Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners cut its Mastercard stake by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 21,219 shares and leaving it with 276,103 shares valued at about $157.6 million.
• Mastercard’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $4.60 and revenue of $8.40 billion, both above analyst estimates, while revenue rose 15.8% year over year.
• Recent developments are mostly constructive for the stock, including preliminary approval of its revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement and a new AI-focused payments initiative called Agent Pay for Machines.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,103 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 21,219 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.9% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $157,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 861.6% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after buying an additional 3,648,748 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $45,181,341,000 after buying an additional 955,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $499.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $523.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

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.

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