Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Buys 1,698 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 35.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,519 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% during the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new payment framework designed to let AI agents and autonomous machines make secure transactions, send micropayments, and settle across multiple payment types. The initiative is backed by more than 30 industry participants and includes crypto and fintech partners, which could open a new growth avenue in AI-powered commerce. Article: Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines to Enable Autonomous AI Transactions
• Positive Sentiment: A U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to Mastercard’s revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement, moving a decades-long antitrust case closer to resolution. Investors may view this as reducing legal overhang, even though merchants remain unhappy and the final outcome is still pending. Article: Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gains 2% Over Preliminary Judicial Approval of $38 billion Swipe-Fee Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced leadership changes, including Ling Hai moving into the CFO role and Sachin Mehra taking on a newly created Chief Business Officer position. This is more of a governance update than an immediate operating catalyst. Article: Mastercard announces leadership changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Cuba’s central bank said it will suspend all Visa and Mastercard transactions there after a processing partnership collapsed under U.S. sanctions pressure. The direct financial impact appears limited, but it highlights ongoing geopolitical and payment-network disruptions. Article: Cuba’s Central Bank to Suspend all Visa and Mastercard Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary on Mastercard’s valuation notes that the stock has been under pressure over the past months and remains below key moving averages, suggesting investors are still cautious despite the positive news flow. Article: A Look At Mastercard (MA) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $489.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $499.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.