Westpac Banking Corp Has $15.58 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its Mastercard stake by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,347 shares. It still held 27,292 shares valued at about $15.58 million, making Mastercard its 13th-largest position.
• Mastercard continues to attract strong institutional support, with hedge funds and other investors making mixed but generally positive adjustments to their holdings. Overall, institutional ownership remains very high at 97.28% of shares.
• Business momentum remains constructive: Mastercard beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while analysts largely maintain bullish views with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $656.04.

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,292 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,347 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.0% of Westpac Banking Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% in the second quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 35.8% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $380,548,000 after acquiring an additional 178,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $431,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding network settlement capabilities to give issuers and acquirers more flexibility, including stablecoin, intraday, holiday and weekend settlement options. That suggests the company is investing in faster, more modern payment infrastructure that could deepen usage and support future revenue growth. Mastercard Prepares to Expand Network Capabilities for New Settlement Choices
• Positive Sentiment: The company is also testing instant cross-currency payments on Europe’s TIPS platform, which highlights progress in cross-border payments efficiency and could strengthen Mastercard’s position in a key high-margin business. Mastercard tests instant cross-currency payments on TIPS platform
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reaffirmed its Buy rating and $671 price target after Mastercard’s Q1 results, pointing to solid net revenue growth and reinforcing investor confidence in the company’s earnings momentum. TD Cowen Reaffirms Buy Rating on Mastercard (MA) After Q1 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard announced a leadership reshuffle, including naming Ling Hai CFO and moving Sachin Mehra into a new chief business officer role. Investors may view this as a routine management reset aimed at broadening leadership depth, but it does not appear to be a major immediate financial catalyst. Mastercard names Ling Hai CFO, moves Sachin Mehra to new role
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles about Mastercard getting “local” in Europe and joining an instant payments pilot suggest the company is adapting to regulatory pressure and regional competition, but the near-term stock impact is less direct than the product and leadership updates. As the EU attacks U.S. giants, Visa and Mastercard get local
• Negative Sentiment: Broader commentary that Mastercard still screens attractively after a year of underperformance may reflect that the stock has already sold off significantly, which can limit near-term upside until investors see clearer acceleration. Visa at $326, Mastercard at $493: Buy, Sell or Hold?

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $478.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $422.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $477.68 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $501.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for 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 company'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 business earned $3.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MA shares. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard Profile

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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