Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Holocene Advisors LP

Key Points

• Holocene Advisors cut its Mastercard stake by 86.3% in Q3, selling 340,392 shares and leaving 53,976 shares worth about $30.7 million, while institutional investors own roughly 97.28% of the stock.
• Mastercard beat expectations with Q4 EPS of $4.76 vs. $4.24 and revenue of $8.81B (up 17.5% YoY), shows strong profitability (ROE 203.9%, net margin 45.7%) and a market cap of ~$452.7B, with analysts holding an overall "Buy" consensus and a $670.83 average price target.
• Management is diversifying beyond payments through crypto partnerships (TRON, Borderless.xyz), a cybersecurity partnership with Cloudflare and new AI offerings, and continues returning cash with a quarterly dividend of $0.87 (annualized $3.48, ~0.7% yield).

Holocene Advisors LP cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,976 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 340,392 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP's holdings in Mastercard were worth $30,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 955,533 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $6,725,317,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,885,944,000 after buying an additional 629,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,303,015,000 after buying an additional 235,403 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $507.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $452.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $531.70 and its 200-day moving average is $553.47.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $739.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $670.83.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TRON joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program — expands Mastercard’s on‑chain payments ecosystem and signals growing crypto-to-fiat rails that could drive new transaction volume and fees. TRON Joins Mastercard Crypto Partner Program
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard added Borderless.xyz to its Crypto Partner Programme — another onboarding of crypto infrastructure players that broadens on‑chain payment options and partnerships. Mastercard adds Borderless.xyz to crypto partner programme
• Positive Sentiment: Cloudflare partnership on cybersecurity (Recorded Future / RiskRecon integration) — strengthens product offerings to small businesses and critical infrastructure, reducing partner risk and expanding enterprise/security revenue channels. This reinforces recent messaging that Mastercard is pushing beyond payments into security and data services. Cloudflare (NET), Mastercard (MA) Partner to Expand Cyber Defense for Small Businesses and Critical Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: New AI product rollouts — Mastercard’s Virtual C-Suite (agentic AI for small businesses) and an AI-powered travel concierge with MakeMyTrip showcase revenue diversification into AI-enabled services that could increase take-rates and data monetization. Mastercard (MA) Introduces Virtual C-Suite to Provide Small Businesses with Executive-Level Insights Mastercard, MakeMyTrip join forces to launch AI-powered travel concierge
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/bullish coverage continues — a recent upgrade to Buy at Wall Street Zen and bullish write‑ups (Investomine summary / coverage pieces) keep sentiment supportive and may underpin demand as investors expect mid‑single digit EPS growth tailwinds from cross‑border volumes and value‑added services. Mastercard NYSE: MA Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context and comparisons — pieces comparing PayPal, Visa and Mastercard highlight sector competition and differing growth drivers; these are background for investors but don’t change Mastercard’s near‑term narrative. PayPal vs. MasterCard: Which Fintech Stock Offers Greater Upside Now?

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.