Argentarii LLC Buys 1,036 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Argentarii LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 47.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $6,725,317,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,303,015,000 after purchasing an additional 235,403 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas upgraded MA to Outperform with a $600 price target, reinforcing upside expectations from analysts and giving short-term support to the stock. BNP Paribas Upgrades Mastercard
• Positive Sentiment: Research/coverage notes highlight Mastercard’s evolving crypto strategy (stablecoin work, BVNK acquisition) and cluster of high analyst targets, which could boost long-term growth expectations if execution continues. Mastercard Narrative Evolving With Crypto Moves
• Neutral Sentiment: FT/Reuters report says Mastercard is exploring a sale of the real-time payments unit it bought from Nets in 2019 — a portfolio move that could unlock cash/value but also signals strategic reshaping that investors will scrutinize. Mastercard Explores Sale of Payments Unit
• Neutral Sentiment: A valuation check piece notes that share momentum has cooled versus strong profitability metrics (large revenue/net income base), keeping the debate active between growth fundamentals and near-term momentum. Mastercard Valuation Check
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC has sent warnings to major payment processors (including Mastercard) about denying customers access to services for political/religious views — raising regulatory/compliance risk and potential reputational/legal costs. FTC Issues Warnings to Payment Processors
• Negative Sentiment: Expansion of the European Payments Initiative (Wero) as a regional alternative to Mastercard/Visa is being promoted by banks concerned about U.S. policy risks — a developing competitive threat for European volumes/fees. European Payments Initiative CEO Says Trump Fears Are Boosting Its Appeal

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4%

MA stock opened at $500.52 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $446.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $521.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $548.78.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $667.88.

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.