Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Position Increased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in Q3, buying 28,150 shares to hold 1,928,716 shares worth about $1.097 billion, making Mastercard roughly 1.2% of its portfolio and its 10th largest holding.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a MarketBeat consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $670.61, after several firms raised price targets or reiterated outperform/overweight calls.
• Mastercard recently beat quarterly estimates with $4.76 EPS (vs. $4.24 est.) and $8.81 billion revenue (up 17.5% year-over-year), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 (annualized yield ~0.7%).

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,928,716 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,150 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.2% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.21% of Mastercard worth $1,096,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 1,149 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 13,643 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,760,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Mastercard by 107.9% during the third quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd now owns 31,945 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $18,171,000 after buying an additional 16,579 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its holdings in Mastercard by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,238 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,980,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,765 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,945,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $656.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $670.61.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its partnership with SoFi to enable SoFiUSD stablecoin settlements across Mastercard’s global payments network — a move that could accelerate cross‑border and B2B settlement use cases and support fees from new rails. Mastercard's Stablecoin Moment: SoFiUSD Gets Global Settlement Rails
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive: Bank of America/other firms have highlighted card networks as defensive growth plays and some firms have raised price targets or maintain Buy ratings, giving upside to valuation expectations. BofA sees card networks as safest bets Mastercard Receives Consensus 'Buy'
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate / partnership PR — a Mastercard executive was appointed to Delivering Good’s board (non‑financial/CSR news). Useful for reputation but unlikely to move fundamentals. Delivering Good Welcomes Three New Board Members
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry positioning: coverage of Mastercard trialing autonomous payment/AI agents and engaging with standards work — signals ongoing product innovation; timing and monetization remain uncertain. Mastercard, DBS and UOB trial autonomous payment AI agent Visa, Mastercard jockey to set agentic standards
• Negative Sentiment: Risk theme — analysts and stories are raising the prospect that AI shopping agents could reduce the role of card networks in commerce, a structural threat that could pressure long‑term growth assumptions. Are Visa and Mastercard vulnerable to AI shopping agents?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competitive concern — coverage arguing Europe needs a payments system independent of Visa/Mastercard highlights potential policy/headwinds that could limit market access or pricing power in key regions. Why Europe needs a payment system independent of Mastercard and Visa
• Negative Sentiment: Negative media spotlight — high‑profile commentators have advised caution on trading Mastercard, which can amplify short‑term selling pressure despite underlying fundamentals. Cramer's Stop Trading: Mastercard

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $521.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $465.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $539.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $557.13. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

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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