First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 4,368 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,368 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 73.2% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 22,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,723,000 after buying an additional 7,215 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $175,872,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3,694.7% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after buying an additional 9,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $524.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $471.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $554.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.35.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MA. Compass Point upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $661.24.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Compass Point analyst upgrade and higher price target lift sentiment for MA; the firm moved Mastercard from Neutral to Buy and raised its target (reported via TheFly / InsiderMonkey), supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks previews next week’s earnings and expects Mastercard to have the attributes for an earnings beat, which could be a catalyst if results and guidance exceed market forecasts. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s partnership with Agoda enables instant travel redemptions in loyalty programs, accelerating experience-driven, digital-first rewards—potentially increasing cardholder engagement and merchant/issuer revenue. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Brand and premium-placement news: ONEflight International becomes the Official Private Aviation Partner of the McLaren‑Mastercard F1 Team—high-visibility partnership that supports Mastercard’s premium/brand strategy. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product/acceptance expansion: Phuket Smart Bus adds contactless card payments with Mastercard—incremental adoption in tourism markets supports transaction volume growth in travel-related corridors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Marketing leadership changes: Mastercard named Alexandra Sloane VP of integrated marketing & communications and also appointed an Optus executive as VP of marketing/comms (Australia). These hires support brand/communications execution but are unlikely to move fundamentals near‑term. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine calendar item: Mastercard is scheduled to release quarterly earnings on Thursday—investors are positioning ahead of the print, increasing sensitivity to any guidance or beats/misses. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/partner risk: London fintech Guavapay’s founder resigned ahead of a court battle with Mastercard—this could indicate localized legal or reputational frictions, though direct financial impact appears limited at this stage. Read More.

About Mastercard

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.