Grove Bank & Trust Sells 2,408 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Grove Bank & Trust decreased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,363 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,408 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Bluegrass Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.7% during the second quarter. Bluegrass Capital Partners LP now owns 28,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Evelyn Partners Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 110.5% during the second quarter. Evelyn Partners Asset Management Ltd now owns 32,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,459,000 after purchasing an additional 17,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the second quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 51,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $28,806,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major strategic deal — Mastercard agreed to acquire BVNK for about $1.8 billion, strengthening its stablecoin and digital-asset infrastructure capabilities, a direct revenue/strategic growth catalyst as the company pushes deeper into crypto-enabled payments. Stablecoin Strategy: Mastercard to Acquire BVNK for US$1.8bn
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade — BNP Paribas Exane raised Mastercard from “neutral” to “outperform” and set a $600 price target, a bullish signal that can attract buyers and support near-term momentum. BNP Paribas Exane Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish research/valuation views — recent analyst and independent commentary (e.g., Seeking Alpha) highlight Mastercard’s high margins, transaction growth, and multi-year EPS runway, reinforcing the long-term investment case. Mastercard: You Swipe, I Win
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal update — London’s Court of Appeal has allowed Mastercard and Visa to appeal a ruling that their default merchant interchange fees breach competition law; the decision preserves the right to challenge the judgment but leaves the underlying antitrust risk unresolved. Allowed to Appeal UK Ruling
• Neutral Sentiment: Value/price-check coverage — several pieces examine whether the recent pullback makes MA a buy, noting solid fundamentals but some short-term share weakness versus historical highs; useful context for longer-term investors but not an immediate catalyst. Is Mastercard Offering Value After Recent Share Price Weakness?
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term market pressure — articles and market note flow highlight that Mastercard (and peers Visa/AmEx) have seen recent selling/“roughing up,” and some traders are positioning this as a buy-the-dip situation; that selling pressure can keep volatility and cap near-term upside. Why Mastercard Shares Are Trading Lower Today

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $667.88.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $496.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $443.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $525.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $551.00. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.