Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,373 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robbins Farley increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.2% in the third quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 1,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,091 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $667.88.

Mastercard Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $483.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $519.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $547.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. 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 company has a market cap of $431.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding merchant acceptance and digital payments infrastructure across Africa, supporting long‑term volume growth and cross‑border transaction opportunities. Mastercard is driving digital economy growth in Africa by boosting acceptance network
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive commentary highlights investment in digital trust and cybersecurity—an operational positive for enterprise customers but unlikely to move near‑term revenue materially. In the next frontier of technology, digital trust is the new foundation
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets report Mastercard has hired bankers to explore selling the Nets real‑time payments unit it acquired for ~$3.2B in 2019. Investors fear this could signal a strategic retreat from European instant‑payments infrastructure, create execution uncertainty, and weigh on growth expectations even if the sale would raise cash or refocus capital. Mastercard looks to unwind biggest ever acquisition Mastercard explores sale of payments unit it bought from Nets in 2019, FT reports Mastercard Explores Divestiture of Nets Real-Time Payments Unit
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: the FTC has warned major payment processors, including Mastercard, against politically or religiously motivated “debanking”—adding compliance and reputational risk that could invite scrutiny or operational constraints. FTC Issues Warnings to Payment Processors Against ‘Debanking’
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure in Europe: the European Payments Initiative (Wero) is gaining momentum as banks seek alternatives to U.S. card rails—this poses a medium‑term threat to transaction volumes in key markets. European Payments Initiative CEO says Trump fears are boosting its appeal
• Negative Sentiment: Peer moves (e.g., American Express pushing AI and new cash‑back offerings) increase product competition for customer wallet share and merchant relationships. American Express Bets Big on AI, Cash Back in 2026 Push

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.