Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Key Points

• Heritage Investors Management Corp. reduced its Mastercard stake by 2.8% in the third quarter, selling 3,600 shares and retaining 125,825 shares valued at approximately $69.4 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 97.28% of Mastercard.
• Mastercard exceeded quarterly expectations: EPS reached $5.31 versus the $5.17 consensus, while revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $698.36.
• Shares opened at $638.50, near their 12-month high, while Mastercard announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, equivalent to a 0.5% yield. Insiders have sold shares recently, and the company faces potential legal and financial risks related to a proposed UK interchange-fee lawsuit and increased debt.

Heritage Investors Management Corp cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 2.0% of Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Mastercard were worth $69,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $14,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% during the second quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 141,828 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $72,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,656,528 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $850,004,000 after acquiring an additional 82,793 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50.1% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the period. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.2% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 81,392 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $44,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,751 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on Mastercard from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore raised their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $698.36.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MA opened at $638.50 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $644.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $559.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average is $586.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $536.21.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.38 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total transaction of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,607 shares in the company, valued at $5,035,181.07. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This trade represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,420 shares of company stock worth $22,882,963. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results exceeded expectations: Mastercard reported adjusted earnings of $5.31 per share versus the $5.17 consensus, while revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion, ahead of the $9.66 billion estimate. Net income increased 18% to approximately $4.6 billion. Reuters earnings article
• Positive Sentiment: Payment activity and services remained strong: Purchase volume rose 9%, cross-border volume increased 11%, and switched transactions grew 9% on a local-currency basis. Value-added services revenue advanced 19%, supported by fraud prevention, data and marketing offerings, while the adjusted operating margin reached 60.5%.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved materially: TD Cowen, Wells Fargo, RBC, Barclays, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Susquehanna all raised their price targets, with targets ranging from $700 to $750 and ratings including “buy,” “overweight” and “outperform.” Analysts also highlighted Mastercard’s potential in AI commerce, tokenized payments and stablecoins. Zacks earnings call article
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard continues expanding its payments ecosystem through partnerships involving Google Pay, pay-by-bank services, co-branded cards and agentic commerce. These initiatives could support long-term transaction growth, although their near-term financial contribution is uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors face legal and financial risks. A proposed £5 billion UK collective lawsuit alleges Mastercard’s interchange fees harmed merchants. Separately, nine-month operating cash flow declined 6%, while buybacks and dividends exceeded operating cash flow and debt increased by roughly $4.9 billion. UK lawsuit article

Mastercard Company 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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