Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 365,709 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,128 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.7% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $208,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Robbins Farley lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $661.24.

Mastercard Price Performance

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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.25%.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

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.

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.