Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 2,348 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,934 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,348 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.9% of Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $30,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after purchasing an additional 931,132 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded access to its Merchant Cloud through a collaboration with MoneyHash, which should improve merchant payment performance and drive incremental merchant onboarding and transaction growth. Mastercard Expands Access to Merchant Cloud Through Collaboration With MoneyHash to Enhance Merchant Payment Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched a “Loan on Card” solution to expand lending through its network — a direct revenue lever that could increase interest-related fees and deepen cardholder engagement. Mastercard Introduces Loan on Card to Expand Lending Opportunities
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional collaboration with BlackRock and Franklin Templeton via the ADI Foundation signals growing institutional adoption and credibility for Mastercard’s initiatives, potentially supporting large-scale enterprise partnerships. BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton Announce Collaboration with ADI Foundation, Signaling Institutional Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Regional expansion: Mastercard boosted its Africa acceptance network ~45% in 2025, supporting long-term volume growth in underpenetrated markets. Mastercard Boosts Africa Acceptance Network by 45% in 2025, Accelerating the Continent’s Digital Economy
• Positive Sentiment: New consumer and marketing initiatives — e.g., McLaren Racing co-branded perks and youth financial-education programs — help drive card engagement and brand differentiation. Mastercard launches McLaren Racing Mastercard Pass with FAB Spendsafe launches Full-Service Financial Education Platform for Youth Backed by Mastercard in Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Background pieces (INET history, EVTC vs MA comparison) provide context for investors but do not change fundamentals immediately; EVTC comparison may influence value-oriented buy/sell decisions for some investors. How INET Transformed MasterCard Transactions: An Overview EVTC vs. MA: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal: Visa and Mastercard agreed to pay a combined $167.5M to settle a class-action ATM-fee lawsuit. The charge is manageable vs Mastercard’s market cap but is a reminder of ongoing litigation and regulatory risk in fee practices. Visa, Mastercard to pay $167.5 million in ATM user fee settlement​ Visa and Mastercard agree to pat €142 million to settle ATM fee lawsuit

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Macquarie increased their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.48.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of MA opened at $572.46 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $553.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $565.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.07 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.44%.

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.