Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,058 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 153.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $175,872,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 88.9% during the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,723,000 after purchasing an additional 7,215 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is targeting small- and medium‑business (SMB) spend through Amazon’s ecosystem by embedding U.S. Bank‑issued Mastercard cards and payments into merchant workflows to capture repeat purchases and data-driven engagement. This deal directly increases transaction volume exposure and merchant/SMB wallet share. Can Mastercard Capture SMB Spend Through Amazon’s Ecosystem?
• Positive Sentiment: Third‑party fintechs and stablecoin rails are increasingly using Mastercard’s network (e.g., recent stablecoin card platforms), underscoring upside from crypto infrastructure partnerships and new payments rails that can drive volume and fee growth. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Considering Real Payment Unit Divestment amid Stablecoin & Blockchain Infrastructure Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Loop Capital has initiated coverage on Mastercard, which can increase analyst attention and liquidity; impact depends on the rating and target they publish. Loop Capital Initiates Coverage on Mastercard (NYSE:MA)
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is reported to be weighing a sale of a European “real payment” unit it bought in 2019 (roughly $370M revenue, $100M earnings), signaling a strategic refocus toward higher‑growth blockchain/stablecoin infrastructure — could be value‑creative or reduce recurring revenue, depending on deal terms. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Considering Real Payment Unit Divestment amid Stablecoin & Blockchain Infrastructure Focus
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC has contacted major payment providers, including Mastercard, to probe “debanking” practices — regulatory scrutiny could lead to compliance costs, reputational risk, or operational constraints. FTC probes debanking practices at PayPal, Stripe, Visa and Mastercard
• Negative Sentiment: Policy proposals to cap credit‑card interest rates (e.g., a 10% cap highlighted in recent analysis) could shrink credit access, reduce interchange/rewards economics, and pressure issuer volumes and fee income if enacted. Credit card interest rate cap could reduce access for over 100 million Americans, analysis finds
• Negative Sentiment: Rule changes in markets like Australia (plans to ban surcharges) and broader merchant pricing shifts could compress merchant‑facing revenue dynamics and interchange pass‑throughs. Amazon Deal And Rule Changes Put Mastercard Valuation In Fresh Focus

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $493.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $440.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $516.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $545.59. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 (DPR) is 21.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $656.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Macquarie Infrastructure raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $664.40.

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.