Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $336.48 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its Mastercard stake by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 589,404 shares valued at about $336.5 million. Mastercard remained its 17th-largest holding and made up roughly 1.2% of the portfolio.
• Mastercard’s latest earnings beat expectations, with quarterly EPS of $4.60 versus $4.41 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion versus $8.26 billion estimated. Revenue rose 15.8% year over year, and analysts now see consensus upside with an average target price of $656.04.
• Several recent developments are shaping sentiment around the stock, including preliminary approval of a $38 billion swipe-fee settlement that could reduce legal uncertainty and the launch of an AI-focused payment framework, Agent Pay for Machines. However, the shares have been under pressure and were trading below key moving averages.

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 589,404 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 12,412 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.2% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.07% of Mastercard worth $336,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648,748 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1%

MA stock opened at $489.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $499.31 and a 200-day moving average of $523.49. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The company 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%.Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new payment framework designed to let AI agents and autonomous machines make secure transactions, send micropayments, and settle across multiple payment types. The initiative is backed by more than 30 industry participants and includes crypto and fintech partners, which could open a new growth avenue in AI-powered commerce. Article: Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines to Enable Autonomous AI Transactions
• Positive Sentiment: A U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to Mastercard’s revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement, moving a decades-long antitrust case closer to resolution. Investors may view this as reducing legal overhang, even though merchants remain unhappy and the final outcome is still pending. Article: Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gains 2% Over Preliminary Judicial Approval of $38 billion Swipe-Fee Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced leadership changes, including Ling Hai moving into the CFO role and Sachin Mehra taking on a newly created Chief Business Officer position. This is more of a governance update than an immediate operating catalyst. Article: Mastercard announces leadership changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Cuba’s central bank said it will suspend all Visa and Mastercard transactions there after a processing partnership collapsed under U.S. sanctions pressure. The direct financial impact appears limited, but it highlights ongoing geopolitical and payment-network disruptions. Article: Cuba’s Central Bank to Suspend all Visa and Mastercard Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary on Mastercard’s valuation notes that the stock has been under pressure over the past months and remains below key moving averages, suggesting investors are still cautious despite the positive news flow. Article: A Look At Mastercard (MA) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness

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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