Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,882 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 17,592 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 3.2% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $91,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after acquiring an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Mastercard by 5.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after purchasing an additional 199,424 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Mastercard by 17.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.
Key Stories Impacting Mastercard
Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Mastercard to benefit from strong cross-border transaction activity, growth in value-added services and resilient payment volumes. These trends support the possibility of another earnings beat, building on the company’s previous quarter in which revenue and adjusted earnings exceeded consensus estimates. Mastercard Looks Poised for a Q3 Earnings Beat: Time to Buy?
- Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s Global Money Platform, which supports stablecoin-related payments, could expand its role in remittances and transactions involving less commonly traded currency pairs. The company is also pursuing embedded B2B payments, fraud-prevention services and potential AI-agent commerce, creating additional long-term growth opportunities. The stablecoin sandwich: Why speeding up payments isn’t so simple
- Positive Sentiment: New initiatives with MrBeast’s Beast Industries, Tech Mahindra and regional partners broaden Mastercard’s consumer, creator and corporate-payment reach. Investors may view these partnerships as supportive of card issuance, transaction growth and future services revenue. Mastercard Launches Creator Card Project With MrBeast
- Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard has recently delivered an approximately 8.1% 30-day share-price return and trades at a premium valuation, making the upcoming earnings report and management guidance especially important. Strong results could support the shares, while merely in-line performance may prompt profit-taking. Mastercard After Stablecoin Platform Launch And Earnings Hype
- Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face potential UK class actions seeking roughly £5 billion in compensation for alleged excessive card-payment interchange fees. Although the outcome and ultimate financial impact remain uncertain, the litigation adds regulatory and headline risk to Mastercard’s outlook. Visa, Mastercard Face Potential £5 Billion UK Class Actions
Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%
Shares of MA opened at $610.18 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $633.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $583.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $535.40.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Mastercard Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $683.94.
View Our Latest Analysis on Mastercard
Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard
In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total value of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,165,000. This trade represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,676 shares of company stock valued at $41,966,586. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.
About Mastercard
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.
In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.
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