Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,086 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,876 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.6% of Prudential PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $82,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Robbins Farley raised its stake in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Launched a global Crypto Partner Program to connect 85+ crypto firms and on‑chain infrastructure to Mastercard’s card network, positioning MA to capture tokenized settlement and new rails for payments. Mastercard’s On-Chain Push
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded stablecoin ties — SoFiUSD can now be used as a settlement option across Mastercard’s network, opening use cases in cross‑border remittances, B2B payments and programmable treasury that could lower friction and fees for some flows. Can SoFi (SOFI) Leverage Its Mastercard Stablecoin Tie-Up
• Positive Sentiment: Rolled out AI-driven “Virtual C-Suite” starting with a Virtual CFO for small businesses — productizing payments data into actionable finance tools could deepen merchant relationships and create subscription/merchant-service revenue. Mastercard’s Virtual C-Suite Brings AI-Powered CFO
• Positive Sentiment: Partnered with Ericsson to simplify digital money movement for telcos, fintechs and banks — extension into telecom rails targets financial inclusion and new transaction flows in underbanked markets. Ericsson and Mastercard Enhance Global Digital Money Movement
• Positive Sentiment: Industry uptake: multiple blockchain firms (e.g., Ava Labs) and payments infrastructure providers are joining Mastercard’s program, signaling broader ecosystem support that could accelerate real-world usage. Ava Labs joins Mastercard program
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and retail interest is elevated with several “trending” and comparative pieces (e.g., Visa vs. Mastercard), which can increase trading volatility but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Visa Vs. Mastercard: Which Payment Giant Is The Better Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Key risk: crypto/on‑chain initiatives face regulatory scrutiny and integration execution risks that could delay monetization or increase compliance costs — investors should weigh adoption timelines and regulatory exposure.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $670.83.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MA opened at $497.98 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $444.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $532.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $554.59.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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.