Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Milford Funds Ltd.

Milford Funds Ltd. cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 71,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 15,573 shares during the quarter. Milford Funds Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $36,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its stake in Mastercard by 9.7% in the second quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 108,715 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,836,000 after buying an additional 9,593 shares during the last quarter. Nvest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 12.9% during the second quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,074 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,285,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 250,522 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $128,668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $661.93.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,625,225. This trade represents a 22.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 7,444 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This trade represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is positioning its network for “agentic payments,” in which artificial-intelligence agents make purchases for consumers. Its participation in the Agentic Payments Alliance and CEO Michael Miebach’s comments suggest the company is working to establish standards and capture transaction volume from this emerging market. How Mastercard CEO is preparing for a world where AI agents do the shopping
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s latest quarterly results showed earnings per share of $5.04 and revenue of $9.28 billion, exceeding analyst estimates. Revenue increased 14.1% year over year, reinforcing the company’s growth and profitability profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $661.93. However, valuation assessments are mixed: some intrinsic-value models indicate upside, while earnings-based measures suggest MA trades at a premium. Can Mastercard stay cheap as AI payments expand?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard appointed Yasemin Bedir as president of its Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The change could support regional expansion, but no immediate financial impact was announced. Mastercard appoints Yasemin Bedir as EEMEA president
• Negative Sentiment: A reported UK legal ruling could make millions of people eligible for approximately £70 in compensation related to Mastercard card-fee claims. The potential financial liability and scope of the case remain unclear, but the development adds litigation risk. Mastercard ruling as millions could get compensation
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Business Officer Sachin J. Mehra sold 8,444 shares for roughly $4.87 million across August 19–20. The trades were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their significance as a discretionary bearish signal, although they may weigh modestly on sentiment. Mastercard insider trading filing

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $580.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $508.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $538.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $517.80.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

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.