Macquarie Group Ltd. Sells 891,291 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Macquarie Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 80.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 221,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 891,291 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $126,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,233,000 after buying an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,902,000 after buying an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Longbow Finance SA increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 23,013 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,090,000 after buying an additional 7,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 396.3% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,343,000 after buying an additional 36,848 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.04.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $489.36 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $499.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $523.57. The stock has a market cap of $432.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Mastercard Company Profile

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.