Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 733,101 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,111,652 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 733,101 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.0% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,776,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 861.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,324,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648,748 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $497,311,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new payment framework designed to let AI agents and autonomous machines make secure transactions, send micropayments, and settle across multiple payment types. The initiative is backed by more than 30 industry participants and includes crypto and fintech partners, which could open a new growth avenue in AI-powered commerce. Article: Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines to Enable Autonomous AI Transactions
• Positive Sentiment: A U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to Mastercard’s revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement, moving a decades-long antitrust case closer to resolution. Investors may view this as reducing legal overhang, even though merchants remain unhappy and the final outcome is still pending. Article: Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gains 2% Over Preliminary Judicial Approval of $38 billion Swipe-Fee Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced leadership changes, including Ling Hai moving into the CFO role and Sachin Mehra taking on a newly created Chief Business Officer position. This is more of a governance update than an immediate operating catalyst. Article: Mastercard announces leadership changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Cuba’s central bank said it will suspend all Visa and Mastercard transactions there after a processing partnership collapsed under U.S. sanctions pressure. The direct financial impact appears limited, but it highlights ongoing geopolitical and payment-network disruptions. Article: Cuba’s Central Bank to Suspend all Visa and Mastercard Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary on Mastercard’s valuation notes that the stock has been under pressure over the past months and remains below key moving averages, suggesting investors are still cautious despite the positive news flow. Article: A Look At Mastercard (MA) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $499.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $523.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $432.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.