Rathbones Group PLC Cuts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 539,230 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 23,886 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.2% of Rathbones Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $306,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 25.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $670.61.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $521.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $539.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $557.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

More Mastercard News

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

About Mastercard

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.