Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,247 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,654 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,247 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 13.0% during the second quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Robbins Farley lifted its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 1,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,091 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. 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: 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $670.61.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MA opened at $521.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $539.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $557.37. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.83.

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 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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.