Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Ninety One North America Inc.

Key Points

• Ninety One North America increased its stake in Mastercard by 14% in Q4 to 164,735 shares (worth about $94.0M), making MA its fifth-largest holding; institutional investors now own 97.28% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $662, though several firms have recently adjusted individual targets up or down.
• Mastercard beat quarterly estimates with $4.76 EPS (vs. $4.24 expected) on $8.81B revenue, delivered a 45.65% net margin, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 (annualized $3.48, ~0.7% yield).

Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,735 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,231 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 3.8% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $94,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $265,233,000 after purchasing an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 153.6% in the third quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $175,872,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $130,902,000 after buying an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $662.00.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6%

MA stock opened at $521.56 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $509.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $540.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $480.50 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $465.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merchant-settlement removes an overhang and limits future litigation risk for the payments network, improving near-term operating visibility and potential expense savings. Visa, Mastercard settle merchant claims
• Positive Sentiment: Partnered with Lobster.cash to enable AI agent payments for existing cardholders — expands Mastercard’s addressable market into automated/agentic payments and Web3-linked use cases, a potential new revenue stream. Lobster.cash partners with Mastercard to enable secure AI agent payments for all existing card holders
• Positive Sentiment: Industry coverage highlights Mastercard’s strong earnings surprise history and analyst attention, supporting expectations for continued outperformance vs. estimates. That track record tends to underpin investor confidence around MA’s multiple. Will MasterCard (MA) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: New Canadian co-branded Mastercard product offers premium airline perks — supports card spend/loyalty but is incremental and localized, so limited broader revenue impact. New Canadian Mastercard offers first-class travel perks with major airline
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro data (weekly jobless claims below expectations) suggests resilience in US labor markets, which is broadly supportive for consumer spending and card volumes — a sector tailwind but not MA-specific. Weekly Jobless Claims Below Expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on American Express ahead of its earnings highlights continued firm spending trends across the card industry; positive for network volumes but represents competitor activity rather than a direct MA catalyst. Should You Bet on AXP Ahead of Q1 Earnings? Key Factors to Watch
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns about Mastercard’s investments/exposure to emerging technologies and related execution or regulatory risk triggered selling pressure in some coverage; this sentiment can add volatility until clarity on returns and regulation arrives. Mastercard (MA) fell on concerns over emerging technologies
• Positive Sentiment: Fintech/industry write-ups on the Lobster.cash tie-up emphasize Mastercard’s push into agentic/payment innovation — consistent media coverage can accelerate merchant and partner interest. Agentic Waves: Mastercard Splashes out with lobster.cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks note that MA is attracting investor attention summarizes the mix of positive fundamentals and headline risk — keeps MA in focus but doesn’t add a discrete catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know

About Mastercard

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.