Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Boosted by Quadrant Capital Group LLC

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased: Quadrant Capital Group raised its Mastercard stake by 8.9% in the third quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 97.28% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts remain bullish: Mastercard has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $682.66, with several firms recently raising their targets.
• Strong financial performance but elevated valuation: Mastercard exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue rising 14.1% year over year. Shares trade at roughly 34 times earnings, while the company maintains a $0.87 quarterly dividend and insiders have continued selling shares under pre-arranged plans.

Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,368 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $18,984,867,000 after buying an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after acquiring an additional 554,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Mastercard from $655.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $701.00 price target (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $682.66.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $620.62 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $624.29. The company has a market cap of $543.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $578.27 and a 200-day moving average of $537.01.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total value of $9,439,383.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,921 shares in the company, valued at $65,806,033.28. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total transaction of $4,296,155.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 72,676 shares of company stock worth $41,966,586 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard introduced Stablecoin Security, an API that combines payment and blockchain intelligence to assess fraud, scams and sanctions exposure before funds move on-chain. The tool could reduce compliance barriers for banks and create new risk-management revenue opportunities as stablecoin payments expand. Mastercard introduces risk intelligence to enable more secure stablecoin payments
• Positive Sentiment: The company also launched a Global Money Platform integrating stablecoins with traditional currencies. The initiative positions Mastercard to capture cross-border payment volume as financial institutions adopt blockchain-based settlement. Mastercard expands stablecoin reach with new money platform
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard unveiled an AI-powered Agent Detection Score to identify transactions initiated by software rather than people. The product may help manage fraud, authorization and liability risks as autonomous shopping agents become more prevalent. Mastercard unveiled an AI Agent Detection Score
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships involving digital payments, business software and emerging markets—including Moovn in East Africa, BankIslami in Pakistan and Extend—could support longer-term transaction growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Financial Officer Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares worth approximately $2.7 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction reduces ownership but is less informative than discretionary insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard’s valuation is elevated at roughly 34 times earnings, leaving limited room for execution disappointments. Investors will likely expect continued strong growth after the company’s latest quarterly revenue increased 14.1% and earnings exceeded estimates.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated NYSE: MA is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.

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