Legal & General Group Plc Sells 61,215 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Mastercard stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 61,215 shares and ending with 5,745,672 shares valued at about $3.28 billion. Mastercard still ranked as the firm’s 15th-largest holding.
• Mastercard remains heavily owned by institutions, with institutional investors holding 97.28% of the company’s stock despite some recent portfolio adjustments by funds.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.60 beating estimates and revenue of $8.40 billion topping forecasts, while revenue grew 15.8% year over year. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Buy with a target price of $656.00.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,745,672 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 61,215 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 0.7% of Legal & General Group Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.64% of Mastercard worth $3,280,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $498.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $480.50 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $501.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $529.42. The stock has a market cap of $440.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.73 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a partnership with JD.com to expand global payment connectivity and explore agentic AI-powered purchasing solutions, which could support future transaction volume growth and strengthen its digital commerce position. Mastercard (MA) Partners With JD.com To Build Out Global Payment Connectivity And Explore Agentic AI-Powered Purchasing Solutions
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also partnered with ryd to launch a digital-first fleet payment operating system in Europe, highlighting continued expansion in commercial payments and acceptance-network usage. Mastercard and Ryd Target Fragmented European Fleet Payments Market
• Positive Sentiment: BMONI and Mastercard said they are partnering to unlock instant card access for consumers in Nigeria, another sign of Mastercard’s continued push into emerging-market digital payments. BMONI and Mastercard Partner to Unlock Instant Card Access for Consumers in Nigeria
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its fintech innovation footprint by launching Mastercard Lighthouse in the UAE with the UAE AI Office, which may help the company identify new payment and AI-related growth opportunities. Mastercard Lighthouse launches in UAE in collaboration with UAE AI Office to accelerate fintech innovation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard continues to draw investor attention, but the article is largely a recap rather than a new catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider reduced their stake, which can attract attention but does not necessarily signal a major change in fundamentals. This Mastercard Insider Reduced Their Stake By 43%
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that UK and European regulators may push for more fee transparency and regional payment alternatives, which could pressure Mastercard’s pricing power and market share. Should Visa & Mastercard Investors Worry About UK & Europe's Moves?
• Negative Sentiment: Market chatter that Mastercard is asking Brazilian payment processors to help cover losses tied to Banco Master’s failure may add near-term earnings uncertainty. Market Chatter: Mastercard Asks Brazil's Payment Processors to Help Pay for Banco Master Failure
• Negative Sentiment: Broader headlines about Europe’s payment alliance targeting Visa and Mastercard reinforce competitive and regulatory risks for MA’s network model. Europe's 130-million-user payment alliance takes aim at Visa and Mastercard

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $739.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $656.00.

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.

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