Korea Investment CORP Lowers Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP trimmed its Mastercard stake by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 14,445 shares and ending with 584,667 shares valued at about $333.8 million. Mastercard remains its 20th-largest holding.
• Institutional ownership in Mastercard remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 97.28% of the stock. Several large managers, including Vanguard, State Street, and Norges Bank, also adjusted or added to positions.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Mastercard despite some target-price cuts and one downgrade, with the consensus rating at “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04. The company also beat quarterly estimates recently, reporting EPS of $4.60 on revenue of $8.40 billion.

Korea Investment CORP cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 584,667 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 14,445 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of Korea Investment CORP's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Mastercard worth $333,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,705,708,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $497,311,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 792.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $432.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $499.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $523.57.

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, topping 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 business's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard News Summary

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

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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