1,251 Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Elevated Capital Advisors LLC

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,043 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,251 shares during the quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 42,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,431,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 522 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $658.91 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $595.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $540.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $681.99. The firm has a market cap of $574.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $674.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $720.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $709.45.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its Mastercard price target from $675 to $800 and maintained a “buy” rating. The new target implies about 21.4% upside from the cited $658.91 price, signaling increased analyst optimism. TickerReport article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard will be the card-network partner for Sage’s planned small-business accounts and debit cards, initially being implemented in France with Adyen. The arrangement could broaden Mastercard’s reach among small businesses. Sage partnership article
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships include a BMO business credit card in Canada and a Citizens treasury-management service using Mastercard technology, expanding its commercial-card and corporate-services footprint. Business banking partnerships article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor activity has also been supportive: one report said Pershing Square added to Mastercard in the second quarter, while another reported a fund increased its stake by 1,884% in the third quarter. Pershing Square holdings article Fund holdings article
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Michael Miebach described cybersecurity as a major concern for protecting financial infrastructure. The comments highlight an ongoing industry risk, but no specific breach or new Mastercard-related impact was reported. Cybersecurity interview

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total transaction of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,403,600. This trade represents a 8.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.