Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Lifted by Whalen Wealth Management Inc.

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 38.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.2% of Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,089,000 after buying an additional 9,504 shares during the period. Charles Lim Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,699,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Mastercard by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 105.1% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,412,000 after acquiring an additional 6,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, July 31st. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $554.00 to $633.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $680.00.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% 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. Insiders have sold 67,618 shares of company stock worth $38,854,630 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $8.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $578.62. 1,113,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,509,525. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $506.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $572.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $530.19.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin settlement expansion: SoFi is launching stablecoin card settlement on Mastercard and projects more than $25 billion in annual transaction volume. Separately, institutional stablecoin settlement rails are rapidly expanding, highlighting a potential new growth channel for Mastercard’s payments infrastructure. SoFi launches stablecoin card settlement on Mastercard Institutional Stablecoin Settlement Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: New payment use cases: Mastercard is working with Tamatem to power gaming web stores in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, while an expanded partnership with stc pay Bahrain targets digital-payment growth among small businesses. These initiatives could increase transaction volumes in underpenetrated markets. Mastercard and Tamatem Gaming Payments Mastercard and stc pay Bahrain Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Resilience and innovation: Mastercard is introducing offline payment capabilities across Europe to keep transactions operating during power or network outages and is exploring consumer trust in AI-agent purchases. Both efforts support Mastercard’s role in future payment infrastructure. Mastercard Offline Payments in Europe Mastercard AI-Agent Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Autonomous Research maintained an Outperform rating and a $686 price target, signaling continued confidence in Mastercard’s earnings and growth outlook. Autonomous Research Mastercard Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its Dublin operations with a second office, supporting long-term hiring and regional infrastructure but adding costs before any revenue benefit is clear. Mastercard Dublin Office Expansion
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are discussing strategies to profit from potential Mastercard weakness ahead of earnings, underscoring concerns about valuation, expectations and short-term volatility. Mastercard Earnings Options Strategy

Mastercard Profile

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 the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard’s products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.