Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,161,082 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 144,697 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 2.5% of Brown Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.35% of Mastercard worth $1,804,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,514 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after purchasing an additional 349,369 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Mastercard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,256,368,000 after purchasing an additional 759,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Mastercard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,046,550 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,160,657,000 after purchasing an additional 123,528 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MA. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new payment framework designed to let AI agents and autonomous machines make secure transactions, send micropayments, and settle across multiple payment types. The initiative is backed by more than 30 industry participants and includes crypto and fintech partners, which could open a new growth avenue in AI-powered commerce. Article: Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines to Enable Autonomous AI Transactions
• Positive Sentiment: A U.S. federal judge gave preliminary approval to Mastercard’s revised $38 billion swipe-fee settlement, moving a decades-long antitrust case closer to resolution. Investors may view this as reducing legal overhang, even though merchants remain unhappy and the final outcome is still pending. Article: Mastercard Incorporated (MA) gains 2% Over Preliminary Judicial Approval of $38 billion Swipe-Fee Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also announced leadership changes, including Ling Hai moving into the CFO role and Sachin Mehra taking on a newly created Chief Business Officer position. This is more of a governance update than an immediate operating catalyst. Article: Mastercard announces leadership changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Cuba’s central bank said it will suspend all Visa and Mastercard transactions there after a processing partnership collapsed under U.S. sanctions pressure. The direct financial impact appears limited, but it highlights ongoing geopolitical and payment-network disruptions. Article: Cuba’s Central Bank to Suspend all Visa and Mastercard Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary on Mastercard’s valuation notes that the stock has been under pressure over the past months and remains below key moving averages, suggesting investors are still cautious despite the positive news flow. Article: A Look At Mastercard (MA) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $499.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $523.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

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.