First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 25,626 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 78.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,911 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 25,626 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% in the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,089,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,795 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 396.3% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,343,000 after purchasing an additional 36,848 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,328,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 65,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,344,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.2%

Mastercard stock opened at $531.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $469.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $506.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.92.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Al Etihad Payments announced the launch of the first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card, which could expand Mastercard’s acceptance and deepen its presence in the UAE payments ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Mastercard as a strong momentum stock and a top non-AI pick among retail investors may be supporting sentiment around the company’s durable network model and defensive appeal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s AI-focused commentary from Jill Kramer frames artificial intelligence as a tool for creativity and insight, but it does not appear to be a direct near-term earnings catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles about Mastercard’s patent work, World Cup payment performance, and a potential Vocalink sale suggest ongoing strategic activity, but the market impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Comparisons with Affirm argue that MA has less room to run because Affirm offers faster growth, lower valuation, and higher analyst upside, which may be pressuring Mastercard’s relative appeal. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Mastercard may sell a majority stake in its UK payments subsidiary Vocalink raised questions about strategy and exposure to critical payment infrastructure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary about Mastercard “betting billions” on technology that could disrupt its own business, plus stablecoin competition headlines, highlight growing long-term competitive threats in payments. Article Title

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.