KBC Group NV Sells 2,090 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• KBC Group NV trimmed its Mastercard stake by 0.5% in Q4, selling 2,090 shares and leaving it with 449,648 shares worth about $256.7 million, which represents roughly 0.6% of KBC's portfolio and is its 29th-largest holding.
• Mastercard reported a Q4 EPS beat ($4.76 vs. $4.24) with $8.81 billion in revenue (up 17.5% YoY), announced a $0.87 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.48, yield 0.7%), and carries an average analyst rating of "Buy" with a mean target price of $662.00.

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 449,648 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,090 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.6% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. KBC Group NV owned about 0.05% of Mastercard worth $256,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 257 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Adelphi Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,019,000. LBP AM SA lifted its stake in Mastercard by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 374,065 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $213,546,000 after acquiring an additional 29,687 shares during the period. Equity Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Invariant Investment Management bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $901,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $520.32 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $480.50 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $464.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $540.67.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company's revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 21.07%.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup maintained a "Buy" rating and set a $675 price target for MA (lowered from $735), keeping a strong bullish analyst view and implying sizeable upside versus current levels, which supports investor demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard struck a decade-long digital transformation deal with Nedbank across the SADC region — a multi-year partnership that can expand payments volume, product distribution and revenue in fast-growing African markets. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and FinVolution launched the Luvit Card in the Philippines to broaden access to digital credit — a product rollout that supports new customer acquisition and TPV expansion in SEA. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Major strategists (Morgan Stanley / Barron's coverage) included Mastercard among stocks to own in a market rally, reinforcing investor sentiment that MA is a defensive growth name to hold in an upcycle. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets published bullish takeaways (analyst consensus implying ~28–29% upside and reiterations of MA as a growth stock), which can sustain interest but are secondary to concrete catalyst news. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Mastercard is in talks on a digital financial-inclusion project in Ethiopia signal geographic expansion potential but are early-stage and conditional. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry hires and third‑party platform moves (Rezolve Ai appointing a Mastercard veteran) highlight talent flow and partnership ecosystems but are indirect for MA’s near‑term earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive innovation: American Express rolled out AI commerce tools (ACE Developer Kit, agent protections) aimed at secure AI-driven payments — greater AI-enabled competition could pressure share gains or product economics over time. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MA. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $662.00.

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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