Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,782 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in Mastercard by 107.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 1,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:MA opened at $579.82 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $520.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $556.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $566.47.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.44%.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Non-payments revenue is becoming a larger, higher-margin part of Mastercard’s business (fraud/fraud prevention, data, tokenization, B2B services), which helps offset interchange pressure and supports longer-term earnings growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is scaling commerce media and exploring AI-driven buying agents — a potential new ad/commerce revenue stream that could lift growth and diversify revenue beyond payments. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Regional expansion: Mastercard licensed QNB to expand payment services in Syria — incremental market expansion that supports volume growth over time (small near-term impact but positive strategically). Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broker/analyst commentary and Zacks style scores highlight MA as a strong growth name — favorable analyst narratives can support sentiment and buying interest. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces comparing Mastercard with peers (e.g., Nayax) and yearly industry predictions provide context but are unlikely to move the stock materially on their own. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple Card issuer change to Chase was announced — the immediate impact on Mastercard is unclear (depends on whether network routing or scheme switches), so this is a watch item rather than a clear positive/negative. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A proposed settlement in litigation involving Visa and Mastercard could lead to changes in checkout flows, merchant routing and fee structures — outcomes that may reduce interchange revenue or force business-model adjustments, posing regulatory/earnings risk. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Finally, Compass Point set a $620.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $657.48.

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.