Akre Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Akre Capital Management cut its Mastercard stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, though Mastercard remains its largest holding at about 18.8% of the portfolio.
• Mastercard received a boost on the legal front after a U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to its revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement, easing an important overhang for investors.
• The company also reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.60 per share and revenue of $8.40 billion, both above analyst estimates, while analysts overall maintain a Buy rating and an average price target of $656.04.

Akre Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,005,280 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 150,314 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 18.8% of Akre Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Akre Capital Management LLC owned about 0.33% of Mastercard worth $1,715,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% during the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new payment framework designed to let AI agents and autonomous machines make secure transactions, send micropayments, and settle across multiple payment types. The initiative is backed by more than 30 industry participants and includes crypto and fintech partners, which could open a new growth avenue in AI-powered commerce. Article: Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines to Enable Autonomous AI Transactions
• Positive Sentiment: A U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to Mastercard’s revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement, moving a decades-long antitrust case closer to resolution. Investors may view this as reducing legal overhang, even though merchants remain unhappy and the final outcome is still pending. Article: Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gains 2% Over Preliminary Judicial Approval of $38 billion Swipe-Fee Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced leadership changes, including Ling Hai moving into the CFO role and Sachin Mehra taking on a newly created Chief Business Officer position. This is more of a governance update than an immediate operating catalyst. Article: Mastercard announces leadership changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Cuba’s central bank said it will suspend all Visa and Mastercard transactions there after a processing partnership collapsed under U.S. sanctions pressure. The direct financial impact appears limited, but it highlights ongoing geopolitical and payment-network disruptions. Article: Cuba’s Central Bank to Suspend all Visa and Mastercard Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary on Mastercard’s valuation notes that the stock has been under pressure over the past months and remains below key moving averages, suggesting investors are still cautious despite the positive news flow. Article: A Look At Mastercard (MA) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Susquehanna cut their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $631.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $499.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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