Cadent Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 7,500 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Cadent Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1,239.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,105 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises 1.2% of Cadent Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $254,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 9,603 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,264,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MA opened at $579.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $520.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $554.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.48.

Key Stores Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Services business emerging as a key growth engine — expanding, higher‑margin services revenues (beyond pure transaction fees) improve revenue diversification and resilience, supporting long‑term margin and multiple expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong holiday spending per Mastercard SpendingPulse — U.S. retail sales (ex-auto) rose ~3.9% YoY (Nov 1–Dec 21), signaling higher transaction volumes and merchant activity that support network revenue and processed volumes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Industry confirmation of resilient holiday demand — Visa and Mastercard reported roughly 4% growth in U.S. holiday retail sales, reinforcing expectations for higher TPV and interchange revenue for card networks. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion — launch of “Merchant Cloud” targets digital commerce infrastructure and merchant solutions, which can drive recurring fees, deepen merchant relationships and capture more processing volume. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Regional growth tailwinds — Mastercard projects the Middle East & Africa to outperform global growth in 2026, pointing to meaningful pickup in new markets and cross‑border volume opportunity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Proactive cybersecurity posture — communications on neutralizing cyber risk reduce operational and reputational risk, supporting transaction continuity and regulatory confidence. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer behavior insights — the “consumer shopper snapshot” highlights shifting value and category trends useful for strategy but not an immediate revenue driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options and investor positioning — elevated options activity shows market interest and positioning around MA but is not a fundamental change to operations. Read More.

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.