Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 148,681 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 26,804 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.6% of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $84,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,233,000 after purchasing an additional 28,331 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,795 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 396.3% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,343,000 after purchasing an additional 36,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,328,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its cross-border payments footprint through a new partnership involving PaidBy and joined the Appia Foundation, reinforcing its growth opportunity in international payments. Mastercard (MA) Expands Cross Border Payments With PaidBy And Joins Appia Foundation
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.87 per share, signaling ongoing financial strength and a continued commitment to returning capital to shareholders. Mastercard Board of Directors Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Management commentary on consumer spending suggests households are still navigating the economy well, which is important for Mastercard because transaction volume tends to track consumer activity. Consumers are doing well in navigating the current economic environment, says Mastercard’s Meyer
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst-style coverage highlighted Mastercard as a top-ranked momentum stock, reflecting continued market interest in the company’s earnings quality and durable growth profile. MasterCard (MA) is a Top-Ranked Momentum Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s annual meeting results were released, but the filing appears routine and does not include an obvious new catalyst for the stock. Mastercard Announces Annual Meeting Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles focused on Mastercard executives’ views on AI, marketing, and “agentic commerce,” which are strategically interesting but mostly long-term narrative drivers rather than immediate stock catalysts. Why Agentic Commerce Could Be a Game-Changer for Mastercard

Mastercard Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of MA opened at $492.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $435.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $499.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $522.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

Mastercard Company 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.