Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,688 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $37,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. First Pacific Financial boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard
In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Mastercard Trading Up 0.6%
Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Mastercard Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.14%.
Trending Headlines about Mastercard
Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Mastercard to strong-buy, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop and reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term growth outlook.
- Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a platform designed to enable secure AI-agent and machine-to-machine payments, which could open a new growth avenue in emerging digital commerce. Mastercard (MA) Launches AP4M To Bring AI Agent Payments Onchain
- Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and VEON announced a partnership to expand financial services across several markets, highlighting continued international expansion and transaction-network growth potential. VEON (VEON), Mastercard (MA) Partner to Expand Financial Services
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts still expect strong fundamentals, and recent commentary emphasized Mastercard’s resilient operations and earnings-growth forecasts, which helped support the stock despite technical weakness.
- Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard will report second-quarter 2026 results on July 30, keeping investors focused on payment-volume trends, margins, and whether growth can justify the valuation. Mastercard Incorporated to Host Conference Call on Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
- Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale of 200 shares was disclosed, but it was a small pre-planned transaction under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, so it is not a major signal by itself.
- Negative Sentiment: Mastercard’s move below its 200-day moving average may be weighing on sentiment, as traders often view that level as a key technical support point.
- Negative Sentiment: Broader concerns around stablecoin competition, regulatory fee pressure, and alternative payment rails could pressure legacy card-network stocks like Mastercard and Visa.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Barclays started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.78.
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.
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