24,000 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA Acquired by Explore Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Explore Capital Management bought 24,000 shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter, a position valued at about $13.7 million. Mastercard now represents roughly 11.4% of the fund’s portfolio, making it its third-largest holding.
• Mastercard continues to attract strong institutional interest, with 97.28% of shares owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Several smaller investors also increased their stakes during recent quarters.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: the stock has an average Buy rating and an average price target of $656.04, while Loop Capital recently reiterated a buy rating and lifted its target to $631.

Explore Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,701,000. Mastercard comprises about 11.4% of Explore Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thomasville National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its settlement network to support stablecoins and more continuous transaction processing, which could improve long-term payment volume and keep the company competitive as crypto-based rails gain traction.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Mastercard may participate in a shared stablecoin platform with Stripe, Visa, and Coinbase point to new partnership-driven growth opportunities and broader adoption of Mastercard’s payment infrastructure.
• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital reiterated a buy rating and raised its price target to $631, signaling Wall Street confidence in Mastercard’s earnings power and upside potential.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $481.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $500.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $525.34. The company has a market capitalization of $425.48 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

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.

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