Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers raised its Mastercard stake 7.3% in Q4 to 42,738 shares worth $24.4 million, and institutional investors now own about 97.28% of the stock.
• Mastercard beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 and revenue of $8.40 billion (up 15.8% YoY), reporting strong profitability (net margin ~45.9%) and a very high ROE.
• The company declared a $0.87 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.48, yield ~0.7%) and holds a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $657.07, though UK regulatory scrutiny presents downside risk.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,738 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,913 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $24,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vulcan Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $265,233,000 after buying an additional 28,331 shares in the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 153.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $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 last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $130,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $491.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $438.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $506.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $534.98. 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 fifty-two week low of $480.50 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard participated in a pilot that completed a near‑real‑time, cross‑border tokenized U.S. Treasury redemption with JPMorgan, Ripple and Ondo — a proof‑of‑concept that signals Mastercard is active in tokenized securities and settlement rails that could open new fee and product opportunities. Ondo, JPMorgan, Mastercard & Ripple complete cross-border Treasury redemption
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard made a strategic investment in Astrada’s $3.8M seed round to build a data layer for “autonomous finance,” showing continued corporate venture activity to enhance data and product capabilities. Strategic VC bets can accelerate product development and partnerships. Astrada Raises Seed Round to Build the Data Layer for Autonomous Finance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Morgan Stanley nudged its price target slightly higher and reiterated an Overweight rating, reflecting continued buy‑side confidence in MA’s long‑term cash generation and secular payments growth. Analyst upward moves can underpin investor sentiment. Morgan Stanley Raises Mastercard (MA) Target; Raymond James Flags Near-Term Headwinds
• Positive Sentiment: Income stability: coverage noting Mastercard’s upcoming quarterly dividend and strong free cash flow reinforces the view that the payout is well covered — supportive for income‑oriented holders. Here’s Why Mastercard’s Dividend Payout Looks Bulletproof
• Positive Sentiment: Product push: Mastercard is targeting late B2B payment costs with new initiatives — if successful, this could expand addressable market and usage of its rails for higher‑value commercial flows. Mastercard Targets the Hidden Cost of Late B2B Payments
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context — Global Payments (GPN) reported a Q1 beat driven by Worldpay momentum; strong peers can signal healthy market volumes but also competitive dynamics. This is industry context rather than a direct MA catalyst. Global Payments Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Worldpay Momentum
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: UK regulators have opened an investigation into PayPal, Visa and Mastercard over potential anti‑competitive conduct tied to PayPal’s wallet funding and use — this raises the prospect of fines, remedies or changes to wallet economics in a major market. PayPal, Visa and Mastercard Face UK Competition Investigation

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $631.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Tigress Financial raised 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $657.07.

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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