Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,353 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% in the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,089,000 after buying an additional 9,504 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Mastercard by 396.3% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,343,000 after acquiring an additional 36,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,328,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $526.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,616,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,819,577. The company has a market cap of $464.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $499.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $517.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Mastercard to strong-buy, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop and reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a platform designed to enable secure AI-agent and machine-to-machine payments, which could open a new growth avenue in emerging digital commerce. Mastercard (MA) Launches AP4M To Bring AI Agent Payments Onchain
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and VEON announced a partnership to expand financial services across several markets, highlighting continued international expansion and transaction-network growth potential. VEON (VEON), Mastercard (MA) Partner to Expand Financial Services
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still expect strong fundamentals, and recent commentary emphasized Mastercard’s resilient operations and earnings-growth forecasts, which helped support the stock despite technical weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard will report second-quarter 2026 results on July 30, keeping investors focused on payment-volume trends, margins, and whether growth can justify the valuation. Mastercard Incorporated to Host Conference Call on Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale of 200 shares was disclosed, but it was a small pre-planned transaction under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, so it is not a major signal by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard’s move below its 200-day moving average may be weighing on sentiment, as traders often view that level as a key technical support point.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader concerns around stablecoin competition, regulatory fee pressure, and alternative payment rails could pressure legacy card-network stocks like Mastercard and Visa.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.