Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 242,725 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,765 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $133,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fundsmith LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $639,458,000. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in Mastercard by 147.2% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $863,969,000 after buying an additional 1,001,671 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Mastercard by 295.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 860,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $441,702,000 after buying an additional 642,724 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,941,951 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,622,398,000 after acquiring an additional 611,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $293,574,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total transaction of $2,767,197.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,915,750. This represents a 10.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations: revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and adjusted EPS increased 21.2%. Services revenue grew 19%, although higher incentives were flagged as a concern. Mastercard’s 19% Services Growth Steals the Q3 Show: Buy or Hold MA?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling potential upside in its view. Truist Financial rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded MA from Buy to Hold, despite lifting its target to $725. The mixed call may temper enthusiasm after the stock’s recent rally. Freedom Broker rating information
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk: coverage notes the recent rally has outpaced changes in earnings estimates, leaving less room for disappointment. Rising incentives could also weigh on margins. Mastercard Stock Rose 22% in a Month. Here’s What Its Price Now Assumes
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face additional collective claims in the UK over card fees, adding potential legal and financial uncertainty. Visa and Mastercard face additional £5bn collective claims over card fees
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of MA shares. The sale may attract attention, but the report provides no context on its purpose. Mastercard CFO stock sale

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4%

MA stock traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $653.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,293,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,281,489. 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 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $593.15 and a 200 day moving average of $539.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced 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 business 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 posted $4.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. Clear Str upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $725.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $704.62.

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.