Westpac Banking Corp Sells 2,347 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,347 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 1.0% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Key Headlines 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 Trading Down 3.4%

NYSE MA opened at $478.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $422.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $501.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $526.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $477.68 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.