LGT Capital Partners LTD. Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

LGT Capital Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 112,533 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $64,010,000. Mastercard accounts for 3.1% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Solstein Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 12.7% in the second quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position 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 valued at $5,425,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Finally, Cryder Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 17.2% during the second quarter. Cryder Capital Partners LLP now owns 193,940 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,983,000 after buying an additional 28,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $495.06 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $549.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $561.18. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $441.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with Cloudflare to build tools for small businesses and strengthen cybersecurity for payments — expands Mastercard’s product set and go-to-market on digital/risk solutions. Cloudflare, Inc. (NET) Enters into Strategic Partnership with Mastercard Incorporated
• Positive Sentiment: New partnership with Ericsson to integrate Mastercard Move with Ericsson’s fintech platform to expand mobile financial services in emerging markets — supports revenue diversification and financial inclusion initiatives. Mastercard and Ericsson Partner to Expand Global Digital Payment Capabilities
• Positive Sentiment: Open finance win: Truist is using Mastercard’s open finance APIs for its open banking platform, replacing credential-sharing with tokenized API connections — a meaningful commercial reference for Mastercard’s enterprise platform sales. Mastercard (MA) Strengthens Banking Ties, Maintains Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/peer commentary: Erste Group raised expectations for Mastercard’s earnings, offering incremental support to fundamentals amid the headlines. Erste Group Bank Forecasts Increased Earnings for Mastercard
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/trust activity: Mastercard volunteer programs teaching seniors digital banking bolster long-term user adoption and brand trust but are unlikely to move near-term earnings. Mastercard: From App Shy to Scamwise, These Seniors Are Learning To Bank Digitally and Safely
• Negative Sentiment: Citrini Research scenario warns AI “agentic commerce” could route transactions around card rails and push payments to low-fee stablecoin rails, threatening interchange margins — this speculative but high-impact thesis sparked investor concern. Visa, Mastercard, AmEx could be gutted by AI ‘agentic commerce’ threat, Citrini Research warns — but retail traders unfazed by selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Follow-up analysis models AI agents and stablecoins bypassing interchange economics — amplifies the narrative that long-term fee pools could shrink, pressuring multiples for card networks. Mastercard In Crosshairs: Citrini Models AI Agents Bypassing Interchange As Stablecoins Threaten Card Economics
• Negative Sentiment: Broad market reaction: a dystopian AI scenario report prompted a selloff across payments and software names, dragging Mastercard along as investors reprice AI-related regulatory and business-model risk. Dystopian AI report sinks payment and software stocks

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.