Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Acquired by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

by · The Markets Daily

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report) by 31.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,524,059 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 605,608 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.9% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,440,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,612,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,514 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after buying an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Mastercard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,256,368,000 after buying an additional 759,584 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $490.73 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $499.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $521.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MAGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is pushing deeper into AI-driven “agentic commerce” with its new Agent Pay and related partnerships, which could help it capture more of the next wave of digital payments as AI agents begin shopping and paying on behalf of consumers. Article Title
  • Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its cross-border payments footprint through partnerships involving PaidBy and the Appia Foundation, reinforcing its international network and transaction growth opportunities. Article Title
  • Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Mastercard’s network-focused model, faster growth profile, and estimated upside versus American Express, suggesting the stock may still have room to rerate as digital payments expand. Article Title
  • Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a quarterly dividend, which can appeal to income-focused investors and signals continued cash generation and shareholder returns.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard executives said consumers are still navigating the current economy reasonably well, which supports the view that spending trends remain stable but does not directly change the company’s outlook. Article Title
  • Neutral Sentiment: Commentary on Mastercard’s former CMO and broader AI-driven marketing trends is more about the company’s thought leadership than a direct financial catalyst. Article Title
  • Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Mastercard with Remitly Global and a note about Mastercard being a top-ranked momentum stock are generally supportive, but they are more market commentary than new fundamentals. Article Title Article Title
  • Negative Sentiment: News that Russia is working on a plan to remove Visa and Mastercard highlights geopolitical and regulatory risk that could weigh on long-term international payment volumes. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Mastercard

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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