Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 976,597 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 30,726 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 1.5% of Blair William & Co. IL’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.11% of Mastercard worth $555,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after buying an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,181,341,000 after acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after acquiring an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.82 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $539.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $557.57. The company has a market capitalization of $465.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $670.61.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its partnership with SoFi to enable SoFiUSD stablecoin settlements across Mastercard’s global payments network — a move that could accelerate cross‑border and B2B settlement use cases and support fees from new rails. Mastercard’s Stablecoin Moment: SoFiUSD Gets Global Settlement Rails
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive: Bank of America/other firms have highlighted card networks as defensive growth plays and some firms have raised price targets or maintain Buy ratings, giving upside to valuation expectations. BofA sees card networks as safest bets Mastercard Receives Consensus ‘Buy’
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate / partnership PR — a Mastercard executive was appointed to Delivering Good’s board (non‑financial/CSR news). Useful for reputation but unlikely to move fundamentals. Delivering Good Welcomes Three New Board Members
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry positioning: coverage of Mastercard trialing autonomous payment/AI agents and engaging with standards work — signals ongoing product innovation; timing and monetization remain uncertain. Mastercard, DBS and UOB trial autonomous payment AI agent Visa, Mastercard jockey to set agentic standards
• Negative Sentiment: Risk theme — analysts and stories are raising the prospect that AI shopping agents could reduce the role of card networks in commerce, a structural threat that could pressure long‑term growth assumptions. Are Visa and Mastercard vulnerable to AI shopping agents?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competitive concern — coverage arguing Europe needs a payments system independent of Visa/Mastercard highlights potential policy/headwinds that could limit market access or pricing power in key regions. Why Europe needs a payment system independent of Mastercard and Visa
• Negative Sentiment: Negative media spotlight — high‑profile commentators have advised caution on trading Mastercard, which can amplify short‑term selling pressure despite underlying fundamentals. Cramer’s Stop Trading: Mastercard

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.