Ethic Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Mastercard stake by 6% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 96,299 shares worth approximately $49.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $661.93; recent firms raised their targets while maintaining overweight or strong-buy ratings.
• Mastercard exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.04 in EPS and $9.28 billion in revenue, with revenue up 14.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, while insiders have sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,421 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.6% of Ethic Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $49,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 861.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after buying an additional 3,648,748 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $661.93.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is positioning its network for “agentic payments,” in which artificial-intelligence agents make purchases for consumers. Its participation in the Agentic Payments Alliance and CEO Michael Miebach’s comments suggest the company is working to establish standards and capture transaction volume from this emerging market. How Mastercard CEO is preparing for a world where AI agents do the shopping
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s latest quarterly results showed earnings per share of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion, exceeding analyst estimates. Revenue increased 14.1% year over year, reinforcing the company’s growth and profitability profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $661.93. However, valuation assessments are mixed: some intrinsic-value models indicate upside, while earnings-based measures suggest MA trades at a premium. Can Mastercard stay cheap as AI payments expand?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard appointed Yasemin Bedir as president of its Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The change could support regional expansion, but no immediate financial impact was announced. Mastercard appoints Yasemin Bedir as EEMEA president
• Negative Sentiment: A reported UK legal ruling could make millions of people eligible for approximately £70 in compensation related to Mastercard card-fee claims. The potential financial liability and scope of the case remain unclear, but the development adds litigation risk. Mastercard ruling as millions could get compensation
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Business Officer Sachin J. Mehra sold 8,444 shares for roughly $4.87 million across August 19–20. The trades were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their significance as a discretionary bearish signal, although they may weigh modestly on sentiment. Mastercard insider trading filing

Mastercard Stock Up 1.1%

MA opened at $580.26 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $538.80 and a 200 day moving average of $518.06. The company has a market cap of $508.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.72. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 19.14%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source