Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,175 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.7% of Norden Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd 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 period. Richmond Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $312,000. Country Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 108.4% in the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 223 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 61,381 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,779,000 after purchasing an additional 17,285 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas upgraded MA to Outperform with a $600 price target, reinforcing upside expectations from analysts and giving short-term support to the stock. BNP Paribas Upgrades Mastercard
• Positive Sentiment: Research/coverage notes highlight Mastercard’s evolving crypto strategy (stablecoin work, BVNK acquisition) and cluster of high analyst targets, which could boost long-term growth expectations if execution continues. Mastercard Narrative Evolving With Crypto Moves
• Neutral Sentiment: FT/Reuters report says Mastercard is exploring a sale of the real-time payments unit it bought from Nets in 2019 — a portfolio move that could unlock cash/value but also signals strategic reshaping that investors will scrutinize. Mastercard Explores Sale of Payments Unit
• Neutral Sentiment: A valuation check piece notes that share momentum has cooled versus strong profitability metrics (large revenue/net income base), keeping the debate active between growth fundamentals and near-term momentum. Mastercard Valuation Check
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC has sent warnings to major payment processors (including Mastercard) about denying customers access to services for political/religious views — raising regulatory/compliance risk and potential reputational/legal costs. FTC Issues Warnings to Payment Processors
• Negative Sentiment: Expansion of the European Payments Initiative (Wero) as a regional alternative to Mastercard/Visa is being promoted by banks concerned about U.S. policy risks — a developing competitive threat for European volumes/fees. European Payments Initiative CEO Says Trump Fears Are Boosting Its Appeal

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $500.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $446.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $521.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $548.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $667.88.

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.