Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Sold by Metropolis Capital Ltd

Metropolis Capital Ltd lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 632,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 84,300 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 9.6% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $348,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 31,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Vision Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Focused Alpha LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 19.6% during the third quarter. Focused Alpha LLC now owns 8,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the third quarter. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total transaction of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,165,000. This trade represents a 10.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% 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 have sold 72,676 shares of company stock valued at $41,966,586 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Mastercard from $710.00 to $688.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Mastercard from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $682.66.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard introduced Stablecoin Security, an API that combines payment and blockchain intelligence to screen for fraud, scams and sanctions exposure before funds move on-chain. The product could reduce institutional concerns about stablecoins, accelerate adoption and create new risk-management revenue opportunities. Mastercard introduces risk intelligence to enable more secure stablecoin payments
• Positive Sentiment: The company also launched a Global Money Platform integrating stablecoins with traditional currencies for cross-border payments. This expands Mastercard’s potential role beyond card transactions as digital-asset payments gain traction. Mastercard expands stablecoin reach with new money platform
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard unveiled an AI-powered Agent Detection Score to identify transactions initiated by software rather than people. The tool may help manage fraud and trust risks as autonomous shopping agents become more common. Mastercard unveils AI Agent Detection Score
• Positive Sentiment: New or expanded partnerships in East Africa, Pakistan and commercial-payment software, along with Mastercard-branded debit infrastructure for Finsei, support the company’s long-term transaction-volume growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: U.S. officials are pressing China for independent market access for Mastercard’s network. Success could unlock substantial growth, but the timing and outcome remain uncertain. U.S. officials press China on market access
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares worth approximately $2.7 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction modestly weighs on sentiment, although scheduled insider selling is not necessarily a signal of weaker fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard’s valuation is elevated near its 52-week high, leaving the stock sensitive to any slowdown in growth or disappointment ahead of upcoming earnings.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $5.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $621.91. 1,298,564 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,501,648. The company has a market cap of $544.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $624.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $577.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $536.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Mastercard Company 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 electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.