Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stake Raised by AE Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake by 44.2% in Mastercard to 189,552 shares (worth $108.21 million), and overall institutional ownership of MA is very high at about 97.28%.
• Mastercard beat quarterly expectations, reporting $4.76 EPS vs. $4.24 expected and $8.81 billion in revenue (up 17.5% year‑over‑year), with strong profitability metrics (net margin 45.65%, ROE 203.92%).
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus "Buy" rating and a $662 average price target, while several analysts have raised targets (e.g., Tigress to $735, Macquarie to $675), indicating continued bullishness.

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,552 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 58,086 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 0.6% of AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $108,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $175,872,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $518.87 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $462.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50 day moving average is $510.47 and its 200-day moving average is $540.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Macquarie Infrastructure raised their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Mastercard from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $662.00.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target on MA to $675, a bullish analyst signal that can support longer‑term upside and positive sentiment among growth investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard struck a decade‑long digital transformation deal with Nedbank covering SADC, which strengthens regional issuer/merchant relationships and can drive volume growth in Africa over the next several years. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships and product launches expand addressable markets: Mastercard is enabling AI‑agent payments via a tie‑up with lobster.cash and has a new Canadian co‑branded card with first‑class travel perks; both moves broaden use cases and premium card revenue potential. Read More. | Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and FinVolution launched the Luvit Card in the Philippines to expand digital credit access—another geographic product rollout that can add transactional volume and fee income. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard reached settlements in merchant litigation, removing a legal overhang; settlement terms will determine the ultimate financial impact but the resolution reduces uncertainty. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and earnings commentary remains constructive: Zacks highlights Mastercard’s strong surprise history and positions MA as likely to beat again, which supports expectations but is not new positive news. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary (Morgan Stanley inclusion in a market‑rally list) and macro data (weekly jobless claims) provide context for consumer spending trends that indirectly affect card volumes—beneficial if the macro environment holds. Read More. | Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns over emerging technologies and related execution/competitive risks have pressured the stock, driving short‑term selling despite the company’s fundamentals and growth initiatives. Read More.

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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