Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,164 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,944 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.6% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the second 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Mastercard by 25.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Compass Point analyst upgrade and higher price target lift sentiment for MA; the firm moved Mastercard from Neutral to Buy and raised its target (reported via TheFly / InsiderMonkey), supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks previews next week’s earnings and expects Mastercard to have the attributes for an earnings beat, which could be a catalyst if results and guidance exceed market forecasts. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s partnership with Agoda enables instant travel redemptions in loyalty programs, accelerating experience-driven, digital-first rewards—potentially increasing cardholder engagement and merchant/issuer revenue. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Brand and premium-placement news: ONEflight International becomes the Official Private Aviation Partner of the McLaren‑Mastercard F1 Team—high-visibility partnership that supports Mastercard’s premium/brand strategy. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product/acceptance expansion: Phuket Smart Bus adds contactless card payments with Mastercard—incremental adoption in tourism markets supports transaction volume growth in travel-related corridors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Marketing leadership changes: Mastercard named Alexandra Sloane VP of integrated marketing & communications and also appointed an Optus executive as VP of marketing/comms (Australia). These hires support brand/communications execution but are unlikely to move fundamentals near‑term. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine calendar item: Mastercard is scheduled to release quarterly earnings on Thursday—investors are positioning ahead of the print, increasing sensitivity to any guidance or beats/misses. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/partner risk: London fintech Guavapay’s founder resigned ahead of a court battle with Mastercard—this could indicate localized legal or reputational frictions, though direct financial impact appears limited at this stage. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $661.24.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.5%

MA opened at $524.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $554.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $471.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 22.25%.

Mastercard 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.