Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Shares Unloaded Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic-Rhode Island) recently sold shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA). In a filing disclosed on March 06th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Mastercard stock on February 23rd.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) on 2/23/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) on 2/23/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) on 2/23/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) on 1/9/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 1/9/2026.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) on 1/9/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) on 1/9/2026.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.82 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $465.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $539.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $557.57.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,444,231,000 after acquiring an additional 72,461,743 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,773,153,000 after acquiring an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,256,368,000 after acquiring an additional 759,584 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its partnership with SoFi to enable SoFiUSD stablecoin settlements across Mastercard’s global payments network — a move that could accelerate cross‑border and B2B settlement use cases and support fees from new rails. Mastercard’s Stablecoin Moment: SoFiUSD Gets Global Settlement Rails
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive: Bank of America/other firms have highlighted card networks as defensive growth plays and some firms have raised price targets or maintain Buy ratings, giving upside to valuation expectations. BofA sees card networks as safest bets Mastercard Receives Consensus ‘Buy’
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate / partnership PR — a Mastercard executive was appointed to Delivering Good’s board (non‑financial/CSR news). Useful for reputation but unlikely to move fundamentals. Delivering Good Welcomes Three New Board Members
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry positioning: coverage of Mastercard trialing autonomous payment/AI agents and engaging with standards work — signals ongoing product innovation; timing and monetization remain uncertain. Mastercard, DBS and UOB trial autonomous payment AI agent Visa, Mastercard jockey to set agentic standards
• Negative Sentiment: Risk theme — analysts and stories are raising the prospect that AI shopping agents could reduce the role of card networks in commerce, a structural threat that could pressure long‑term growth assumptions. Are Visa and Mastercard vulnerable to AI shopping agents?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competitive concern — coverage arguing Europe needs a payments system independent of Visa/Mastercard highlights potential policy/headwinds that could limit market access or pricing power in key regions. Why Europe needs a payment system independent of Mastercard and Visa
• Negative Sentiment: Negative media spotlight — high‑profile commentators have advised caution on trading Mastercard, which can amplify short‑term selling pressure despite underlying fundamentals. Cramer’s Stop Trading: Mastercard

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Compass Point upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $670.61.

About Senator Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. He assumed office on January 3, 2007. His current term ends on January 3, 2031.

Whitehouse (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

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.