Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stake Reduced by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its Mastercard stake by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 49,023 shares and leaving it with 463,159 shares worth about $264.4 million.
• Despite the trimmed position, Mastercard remains widely held by institutions, with 97.28% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Analyst sentiment stays constructive overall: multiple firms reiterated or upgraded ratings, and Mastercard’s consensus remains a Buy with a $656.04 target price, even after a few mixed rating changes.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,159 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 49,023 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 1.5% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.05% of Mastercard worth $264,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc raised its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd 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. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MA shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $656.04.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating on Mastercard with a $671 price target, citing Q1 results that showed 12% net revenue growth and reinforcing a constructive view on the company’s growth outlook. TD Cowen Reaffirms Buy Rating on Mastercard (MA) After Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard joined a European cross-border instant payments pilot with the central banks of Denmark and Sweden, a move that highlights continued expansion in faster payments and could support long-term transaction growth. Mastercard Joins European Cross-Border Instant Payments Pilot
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also rolled out new AI-powered fraud and merchant-trust tools, which should help strengthen network security and reduce fraud-related losses over time. Mastercard Tightens Fraud Rules And AI Tools As Share Price Slips
• Neutral Sentiment: Several investor commentary pieces argued Mastercard screens attractively after a year of underperformance, suggesting valuation support but not a near-term catalyst by itself. Visa at $326, Mastercard at $493: Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard was mentioned in a report about Berkshire Hathaway removing the stock from its portfolio, which may create some headline pressure, though the impact on fundamentals appears limited. Another fintech giant gets the pink slip from Warren Buffett's Berkshire

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:MA opened at $496.08 on Tuesday. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $480.50 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The stock's 50-day moving average is $501.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $526.96. The stock has a market cap of $438.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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