Vulcan Value Partners LLC Buys 28,331 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Vulcan Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 4.8% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Vulcan Value Partners LLC owned 0.05% of Mastercard worth $265,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 955,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic cybersecurity partnership with Cloudflare positions Mastercard to sell security tools to small businesses and strengthen transaction security — a potential new revenue stream and cross‑sell opportunity that supports longer‑term growth. Cloudflare, Inc. (NET) and Mastercard Incorporated Announce Strategic Cybersecurity Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is tapping telecom partners to reach ~120 million potential customers — a distribution play that can grow prepaid and mobile-first payment penetration in emerging markets. Mastercard Taps Telecoms for 120M Potential Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Local rollout wins: Mastercard enabled Google Pay for cardholders in Saudi Arabia and partnered with Grameenphone in Bangladesh — both moves expand tap‑to‑pay and digital wallet adoption in growth markets. Mastercard enables Google Pay for cardholders in Saudi Arabia
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: Mastercard highlights a move toward “agentic AI” — shifting from recommendation to automated action — which could improve fraud prevention, merchant solutions, and customer experiences over time. “We Are Moving From AI Systems That Recommend to That Act”: Mastercard on Agentic AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces reinforce Mastercard’s long-term performance narrative (e.g., 10‑year return retrospectives and momentum stock write‑ups) — useful for sentiment but low immediate impact on fundamentals. $1000 Invested In Mastercard 10 Years Ago Would Be Worth This Much Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional reporting explains how Mastercard and Cloudflare will fight cyber threats — supports the partnership narrative but is incremental to the main announcement. How are Mastercard and Cloudfare Fighting Cyber Threats?
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analysis in the Financial Times argues the UK has become overly dependent on Mastercard, highlighting regulatory and political scrutiny risks that could translate into higher compliance costs or policy headwinds. How the UK accidentally shackled itself to Mastercard

Mastercard Stock Up 1.1%

MA opened at $525.94 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $469.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $551.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $561.64. 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) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

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.