AE Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,728 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $74,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $661.70.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded MA to a “strong-buy,” which supports near-term buying interest and lifts sentiment among institutional investors. Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis projects 13%–16.5% annual EPS growth through 2028 and estimates a fair value near $616, highlighting durable margin profile and long-term transaction growth that justify premium multiples. Mastercard: Just Keep Swiping
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding agentic AI products and partnerships (banking/retail automation and an agent-led payments trial), which could drive new revenue streams and product differentiation over time. Mastercard Launches Agentic AI Suite
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage (Zacks, Yahoo/Zacks analyst blog) is keeping MA in focus ahead of its quarterly report — expectations point to double-digit revenue and EPS growth but also note a stretched valuation. Is Mastercard Stock a Smart Bet Ahead of Q4?
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets note Mastercard’s high institutional ownership and strong profitability metrics — positive fundamentals but they also underpin the stock’s premium multiple and sensitivity to growth misses. Head-To-Head Analysis: Mastercard & Ryvyl
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk: Capital One’s acquisition activity (Brex) and broader bank consolidation/fintech push are cited as potential long-term competitive threats to card processors’ margins and volumes. Investors may price in this risk alongside premium valuation. Capital One Stock Weak After Earnings, Brex Deal in Focus

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1%

MA stock opened at $521.18 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $554.28 and its 200 day moving average is $564.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market cap of $468.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. 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 an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.25%.

Mastercard Profile

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.