Arizona State Retirement System Has $138.99 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its Mastercard stake by 2.7% in Q4 to 243,464 shares worth $138,989,000, representing about 0.8% of its portfolio and the stock's 16th largest holding.
• Institutional ownership of Mastercard is very high at 97.28%, with major investors like State Street and Vanguard increasing positions and Assenagon Asset Management boosting its stake by 792.2% in the period.
• Mastercard beat quarterly EPS estimates ($4.76 vs. $4.24) with revenue up 17.5% year‑over‑year, announced a $0.87 quarterly dividend (ex‑dividend April 9), and holds a consensus analyst rating of Buy with a $659.81 target price.

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 243,464 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 6,784 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.8% of Arizona State Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Mastercard were worth $138,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,181,341,000 after buying an additional 955,533 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Mastercard by 792.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 865,523 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $494,110,000 after acquiring an additional 768,514 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,885,944,000 after acquiring an additional 629,941 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $245,980,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $659.81.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $502.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $480.50 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $448.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $507.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $538.37.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets upgraded Mastercard to "strong‑buy," which can provide buying support and signal improved analyst conviction. Mastercard upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard reported continued revenue growth and reduced emissions for a third straight year — a combination of top‑line momentum and ESG progress that supports longer‑term investor confidence. Mastercard grows revenue, reduces emissions for third straight year
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect earnings growth for the upcoming quarter; Zacks highlights factors that could produce an earnings beat, which can be a near‑term catalyst when results arrive. MasterCard reports next week article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard joined the Blockchain Security Standards Council and is pushing fintech/security initiatives — strategic moves that can expand corridors for cross‑border and digital payments. Mastercard joins BSSC article
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer media coverage includes card reviews (e.g., Citi/AAdvantage co‑brand), which raise brand visibility but have limited direct impact on MA’s network economics. Citi/AAdvantage card review
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary explains recent intraday weakness in MA shares; useful for context but not a new fundamental development. Why Mastercard dipped article
• Negative Sentiment: A proposed Visa–Mastercard policy/deal would give merchants more power to steer customer spending and payment routing — a shift that could compress interchange margins or alter network economics if broadly adopted. Proposed Visa–Mastercard deal article
• Negative Sentiment: New litigation alleging issues with card fees (Visa and Mastercard named) represents regulatory/legal risk that can pressure the stock by threatening fee structure or increasing compliance costs. Visa, Mastercard face suit over card fees

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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