Saudi Central Bank Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Posted by Stanley Muller on Sep 6th, 2026

Saudi Central Bank grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 83.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 57,318 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,065 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $29,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 861.6% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,324,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648,748 shares in the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $639,458,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 147.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $863,969,000 after buying an additional 1,001,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.1%

MA stock opened at $579.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $507.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $558.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $666.64.

Read Our Latest Report on Mastercard

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s Strive India program has helped small businesses access more than $150 million in credit. The initiative strengthens Mastercard’s role in financial inclusion and could expand future payment volumes in a large growth market. Mastercard Strive India Aids Small Firms With Over $150 Million in Credit
Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched its first Start Path cohort focused on agentic commerce, with 22 startups developing technology that enables AI agents to initiate and complete transactions. The effort positions Mastercard to capture a potential new payments channel as autonomous purchasing develops. Mastercard Start Path Launches Inaugural Agentic Commerce Cohort
Positive Sentiment: Citi Hong Kong plans to introduce a virtual credit card with a dynamic card validation code in partnership with Mastercard. The product could improve digital-payment security and reinforce Mastercard’s technology value proposition. Citi Hong Kong Dynamic CVC Virtual Credit Card Partnership
Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard expanded leadership for digital acceptance in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and launched travel deals with Klook. Both developments may support merchant adoption and engagement, but are unlikely to materially change near-term earnings. Mastercard Elevates Vanshi Kotru Mastercard and Klook Launch Travel Deals
Negative Sentiment: CFO Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares valued at approximately $1.9 million, reducing his direct holdings by 8.18%. Because the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, it is a limited bearish signal, but it can still weigh on sentiment—particularly with Mastercard trading near a 52-week high and at a premium earnings multiple. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,623 shares of company stock worth $42,544,606. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

(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.