Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Key Points

• Franklin Resources cut its Mastercard stake by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,157,899 shares and leaving it with 6.3 million shares worth about $3.6 billion. Mastercard still ranked as Franklin’s 17th-largest holding.
• Mastercard reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $4.60 per share versus $4.41 expected, on revenue of $8.40 billion that topped estimates. Revenue rose 15.8% year over year, underscoring continued business momentum.
• Analysts remain broadly upbeat on MA, with several firms issuing buy or outperform ratings and a consensus price target of $656.04. The stock is also seeing positive sentiment from news on resilient consumer spending, open finance expansion, and stablecoin-related payment innovation.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,305,667 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,157,899 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.9% of Franklin Resources Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.70% of Mastercard worth $3,599,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

MA opened at $491.67 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $499.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $525.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. 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 company earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s CEO said spending growth has been holding up across all income bands, suggesting consumers remain resilient despite higher gas and food prices. That supports the outlook for payment volume and transaction growth. Mastercard CEO: Spending growth has been happening across all income bands
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding its open finance ecosystem through a partnership with PaidBy, adding cross-border open banking payments, local-currency account-to-account transactions, and faster settlement. Can Mastercard Strengthen Its Open Finance Ecosystem With PaidBy?
• Positive Sentiment: News that Mastercard is adding stablecoins and broader settlement windows points to continued innovation in payments infrastructure, which could help the company capture more transaction flows and improve settlement efficiency. Mastercard adds stablecoins to payment settlement system
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s leadership shake-up and AI-focused initiatives suggest management is trying to accelerate fintech growth and modernize the business, which investors may view as supportive of long-term expansion. Mastercard Leadership Shake-Up to Drive Fintech Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to highlight Mastercard’s strong value-added services and high-return business model, but this is more of a long-term valuation argument than a direct near-term catalyst. Mastercard: Advanced DuPont Analysis Reveals Value-Added Services Are Built To Skyrocket The Share Price
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard transactions in Cuba are set to be suspended, a reminder that geopolitical and sanctions-related issues can still disrupt some transaction volumes, though the financial impact is likely limited. Visa, Mastercard transactions in Cuba to be suspended, central bank says

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $656.04.

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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