PineStone Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,697,191 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,501 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 6.0% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Mastercard worth $968,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Robbins Farley increased its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc raised its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $631 price target, signaling fresh analyst conviction after the stock’s pullback and suggesting meaningful upside from current levels. Wall Street Pro Tells Investors to Buy Mastercard Stock
• Positive Sentiment: UBS trimmed its price target from $700 to $650 but maintained a Buy rating — a downward tweak but still indicating ~30% upside from current levels and continued analyst support. Benzinga UBS PT Note
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI reiterated an In Line rating with a $610 target and highlighted the strategic potential of Mastercard’s BVNK acquisition, which analysts expect to bolster its B2B banking and rails exposure. Evercore ISI Touts Mastercard BVNK Acquisition Impact
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s new Prime Business and Amazon Business cards will be issued by U.S. Bank on the Mastercard network — a tangible card-issuer partnership that should drive transaction volume and processing revenue. U.S. Bank, Mastercard take Amazon’s small-business cards from Amex
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary and pieces framing last year’s share weakness as a buying opportunity are attracting momentum buyers and long‑term investors looking for exposure to payments names with secular growth. Mastercard Stock Tumbles 13% in 2025 — Analysts Call It a Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage consensus remains skewed to Buy across brokers, reinforcing a positive analyst backdrop but not introducing new, company‑specific catalysts. Mastercard Given Consensus Recommendation of Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic commentary highlights Mastercard’s pivot toward AI and data services — a longer‑term margin and revenue growth thesis that supports valuation but may take time to materially move near-term results. Mastercard’s Pivot: A Bullish Strategic Bet on AI and Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Daily market note: recent intraday movement was reported by Zacks, which provides context but no new fundamental catalyst. MasterCard Advances But Underperforms Market: Key Facts
• Negative Sentiment: Australia’s plan to ban card surcharges from October could compress merchant fees or interchange economics in that market and increase competitive pressure on pricing, a potential headwind for margins in impacted regions. Australia to end debit and credit card surcharges from October

Mastercard Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MA opened at $500.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $518.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $546.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $631.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $664.40.

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.