Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 652 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $242,000. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 33.4% in the second quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.4%

MA stock opened at $509.86 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $454.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $547.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $560.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. 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 presently 21.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $656.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its reach in Africa by partnering with a Tanzanian firm to accelerate digital-payments adoption, supporting regional volume growth and network expansion. Mastercard, Tananian firm partner to fast-track the transformation of digital payment
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is moving into transit payments (users can pay bus fares), a practical payments use case that can increase transactions and deepen merchant/consumer engagement. Mastercard users can pay bus fares
• Positive Sentiment: Reports note Mastercard is hiring for crypto/stablecoin and DeFi roles (e.g., Director of Crypto Flows), signaling continued investment in digital-asset rails that could open new fee pools and product offerings. Mastercard Is Staffing Up for Stablecoins and DeFi — Here’s What That Means
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is selling its loyalty business, SessionM, to Capillary Technologies for $20 million — a small divestiture that trims non-core assets but is unlikely to move material revenue metrics. Capillary Technologies acquires SessionM from Mastercard for $20 million
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks highlights that Mastercard is a heavily searched stock — increased attention can boost liquidity and short-term volatility but does not itself change fundamentals. Investors Heavily Search Mastercard Incorporated (MA): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Research firm Citrini warns that “agentic commerce” and AI-driven commerce models could disrupt card networks over time — a thematic risk that, if realized, would pressure long-term transaction volumes and margins. Visa, Mastercard, AmEx could be gutted by AI ‘agentic commerce’ threat, Citrini Research warns — but retail traders unfazed by selloff
• Negative Sentiment: European payment apps are pushing into retail payments to challenge Visa/Mastercard dominance in local markets — increased competition could pressure fee growth in certain regions. European payment app targets Visa, Mastercard dominance with retail payments push

Mastercard Company 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.