Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Boosted by XXEC Inc.

XXEC Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 478.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,321 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 86,299 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 11.4% of XXEC Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. XXEC Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $57,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Severin Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $486,000. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 1,592 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sawyer & Company Inc raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 7,185 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,590,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $513.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $453.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $496.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $519.34. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched an Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in South Africa, a move that could deepen relationships with governments and financial institutions while reinforcing its role in digital security. Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence
• Positive Sentiment: The company is working with quantum computing firm OQC to explore better fraud detection, which could help Mastercard combat the large and growing fraud problem in payments. Mastercard (MA) Stock Rises as It Taps Quantum Tech to Fight $343 Billion Fraud Problem
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst began coverage on Mastercard with a bullish view, adding to sentiment support for the stock. This Mastercard Analyst Begins Coverage On A Bullish Note; Here Are Top 5 Initiations For Tuesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted that 87% of Moroccan SMEs remain confident about their business outlook, which is supportive of regional economic activity but is not a direct financial catalyst. Mastercard: 87% of Moroccan SMEs Confident About Business Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Visa-Mastercard settlement could affect rewards credit cards may pressure investor sentiment if it raises concerns about future card economics or rewards-related revenue. Visa, Mastercard settlement might impact rewards credit cards

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.81.

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.