Mastercard Incorporated $MA is Dearborn Partners LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,041 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 1.9% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $40,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 13.0% during the second quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its position in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 1,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic cybersecurity partnership with Cloudflare positions Mastercard to sell security tools to small businesses and strengthen transaction security — a potential new revenue stream and cross‑sell opportunity that supports longer‑term growth. Cloudflare, Inc. (NET) and Mastercard Incorporated Announce Strategic Cybersecurity Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is tapping telecom partners to reach ~120 million potential customers — a distribution play that can grow prepaid and mobile-first payment penetration in emerging markets. Mastercard Taps Telecoms for 120M Potential Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Local rollout wins: Mastercard enabled Google Pay for cardholders in Saudi Arabia and partnered with Grameenphone in Bangladesh — both moves expand tap‑to‑pay and digital wallet adoption in growth markets. Mastercard enables Google Pay for cardholders in Saudi Arabia
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: Mastercard highlights a move toward “agentic AI” — shifting from recommendation to automated action — which could improve fraud prevention, merchant solutions, and customer experiences over time. “We Are Moving From AI Systems That Recommend to That Act”: Mastercard on Agentic AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces reinforce Mastercard’s long-term performance narrative (e.g., 10‑year return retrospectives and momentum stock write‑ups) — useful for sentiment but low immediate impact on fundamentals. $1000 Invested In Mastercard 10 Years Ago Would Be Worth This Much Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional reporting explains how Mastercard and Cloudflare will fight cyber threats — supports the partnership narrative but is incremental to the main announcement. How are Mastercard and Cloudfare Fighting Cyber Threats?
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analysis in the Financial Times argues the UK has become overly dependent on Mastercard, highlighting regulatory and political scrutiny risks that could translate into higher compliance costs or policy headwinds. How the UK accidentally shackled itself to Mastercard

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $525.94 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $472.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $551.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $561.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

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.