Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Lynx Investment Advisory

Lynx Investment Advisory reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 38.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,698 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after purchasing an additional 486,283 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after buying an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after buying an additional 42,871 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after buying an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after buying an additional 554,366 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Favorable earnings setup: JPMorgan analysts see potential upside from durable consumer spending, accelerating international transactions and demand for cybersecurity services, particularly after Visa’s solid results. Analyst Signals Favorable Earnings Setup for Mastercard After Visa’s Results
• Positive Sentiment: Expectations for another beat: Analysts and market coverage point to expanding cross-border activity and growth in value-added services as potential drivers of revenue and earnings above consensus, although higher expenses remain a consideration. Mastercard Looks Poised for a Q3 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Expansion of payment capabilities: Mastercard is extending its reach through Google Pay in Nigeria, embedded B2B payments with Tech Mahindra, and Mastercard Max, a platform designed to help Asia-Pacific issuers promote card benefits. These initiatives could support longer-term transaction and services growth. Mastercard and Interswitch Bring Google Pay to Nigeria
• Neutral Sentiment: Stablecoin opportunity remains developing: Mastercard’s Global Money Platform and stablecoin-related initiatives broaden its addressable market, but the company acknowledges that conversions between fiat currencies and stablecoins can limit the speed and benefits of these payments. The Stablecoin Sandwich
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation raises the bar: Mastercard’s recent rally and record-level trading mean the upcoming report must demonstrate sustained double-digit growth to justify the stock’s premium valuation. Management is also scheduled to participate in two November investor conferences. What Mastercard’s Quarter Has to Prove
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: Mastercard and Visa face potential UK class actions seeking approximately £5 billion over alleged excessive card-payment fees. While the financial impact and outcome remain uncertain, the litigation could pressure future interchange economics. Visa and Mastercard Face UK Lawsuit Over Card Fees

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $610.57 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $534.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $584.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $535.55. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $633.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total value of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,165,000. This represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total value of $8,838,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,676 shares of company stock worth $41,966,586. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. President Capital upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $683.94.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.