Callahan Advisors LLC Grows Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Callahan Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,977 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.5% of Callahan Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $232,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% in the second quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Compass Point analyst upgrade and higher price target lift sentiment for MA; the firm moved Mastercard from Neutral to Buy and raised its target (reported via TheFly / InsiderMonkey), supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks previews next week’s earnings and expects Mastercard to have the attributes for an earnings beat, which could be a catalyst if results and guidance exceed market forecasts. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s partnership with Agoda enables instant travel redemptions in loyalty programs, accelerating experience-driven, digital-first rewards—potentially increasing cardholder engagement and merchant/issuer revenue. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Brand and premium-placement news: ONEflight International becomes the Official Private Aviation Partner of the McLaren‑Mastercard F1 Team—high-visibility partnership that supports Mastercard’s premium/brand strategy. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product/acceptance expansion: Phuket Smart Bus adds contactless card payments with Mastercard—incremental adoption in tourism markets supports transaction volume growth in travel-related corridors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Marketing leadership changes: Mastercard named Alexandra Sloane VP of integrated marketing & communications and also appointed an Optus executive as VP of marketing/comms (Australia). These hires support brand/communications execution but are unlikely to move fundamentals near‑term. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine calendar item: Mastercard is scheduled to release quarterly earnings on Thursday—investors are positioning ahead of the print, increasing sensitivity to any guidance or beats/misses. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/partner risk: London fintech Guavapay’s founder resigned ahead of a court battle with Mastercard—this could indicate localized legal or reputational frictions, though direct financial impact appears limited at this stage. Read More.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $524.67 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $554.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. 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 $471.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $661.24.

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.