AGP Franklin LLC Makes New $2.41 Million Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,412,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Robbins Farley lifted its position in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 45.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced an AI-powered shopping change rolling out for Commonwealth Bank and Westpac customers in Australia — a first-of-its-kind feature that could boost merchant conversion and consumer engagement in a major market. Mastercard unveils major AI shopping change
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is trialing agent-led payments powered by Australian LLM Maincode, signaling product innovation that could expand service offerings and drive transactional revenue. Aussie LLM Maincode powers Mastercard’s agent-led payments trial
• Positive Sentiment: The company is broadening startup outreach to “agentic” AI firms, which may accelerate partnerships and new product pipelines in advanced AI-driven payments and services. Mastercard expands startup outreach to agentic AI firms
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is active ahead of Q4 — research roundups and previews highlight expectations for double-digit revenue and EPS growth but caution on stretched valuation. Top Research Reports for Broadcom, Oracle & Mastercard
• Neutral Sentiment: Various analyst notes and education pieces reiterate Mastercard’s long-term growth case while flagging valuation and near-term results as key catalysts to monitor. Is Mastercard Stock a Smart Bet Ahead of Q4 Earnings?
• Negative Sentiment: ZeroHash reportedly walked away from multi-billion-dollar acquisition talks with Mastercard to remain independent, removing a potential strategic bolt-on and drawing attention to deal execution risks. ZeroHash walks away from Mastercard talks
• Negative Sentiment: Some headlines and TV commentary (including Jim Cramer) referencing regulatory/PR issues like a “Trump credit card cap” and a modest analyst price‑target trim (Truist lowered its target while keeping a Buy) are contributing to near-term sentiment headwinds. Jim Cramer Discusses Mastercard & Trump Credit Card Cap

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4%

MA stock opened at $519.86 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $554.46 and its 200-day moving average is $564.88. The firm has a market cap of $466.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 22.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $650.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $660.81.

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.