Weitz Investment Management Inc. Sells 9,170 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Weitz Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,170 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises 4.8% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $88,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 7.4% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,654 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,425,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 16.0% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in Mastercard by 12.4% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 211,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,760,000 after purchasing an additional 23,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MA stock opened at $498.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $444.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $560.64.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is staffing up for stablecoins and DeFi (hiring a Director of Crypto Flows), signalling management is pushing into new rails and card-stablecoin integrations that could create new revenue streams. Mastercard Is Staffing Up for Stablecoins and DeFi — Here’s What That Means
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships that extend reach: Mastercard and Ericsson are collaborating to integrate payments capabilities in the Middle East & Africa (Mastercard Move + Ericsson Fintech), and Mastercard is partnering with Cloudflare and banks (Truist) to expand open finance tools and SMB payment solutions — these can support revenue growth outside core interchange. Mastercard, Ericsson craft payment tools
• Positive Sentiment: Incremental acceptance wins (e.g., public transit fare acceptance) broaden everyday use cases and deepen network utility. Mastercard users can pay bus fares
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is divesting its SessionM loyalty business to Capillary Technologies for $20 million — a small, non-core asset sale that raises cash but is unlikely to materially move revenue or margins. Capillary Technologies acquires SessionM from Mastercard for $20 million
• Negative Sentiment: Citrini Research’s scenario analysis argues AI agents and low-fee stablecoin rails could bypass interchange, presenting an existential threat to card economics; that report has triggered sector selling and negative attention on MA. Mastercard In Crosshairs: Citrini Models AI Agents Bypassing Interchange As Stablecoins Threaten Card Economics
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: the Citrini/dystopian AI narrative has pressured payments and software stocks (including Visa/MA/AmEx), amplifying short-term volatility and selling pressure. Dystopian AI report sinks payment and software stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk from new European payment apps aiming to challenge Visa/Mastercard in retail payments could pressure fees/volume in specific corridors over time. European payment app targets Visa, Mastercard dominance with retail payments push

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Macquarie Infrastructure boosted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

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.