Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 648,236 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 74.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 217,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 648,236 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $108,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 396.3% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,343,000 after acquiring an additional 36,848 shares in the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $1,328,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 65,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.08.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a new partnership with SAIT to expand cybersecurity training for small businesses, non-profits, and social enterprises in Western Canada, reinforcing its brand and community investment while potentially supporting future digital payment adoption. Article: New SAIT and Mastercard partnership targets cybersecurity gaps facing Canada’s small businesses and non-profits
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard continues to be viewed as a high-margin, long-runway payments leader, with articles highlighting its recurring toll-like revenue model and durable position in the global payments duopoly. Article: Mastercard vs. PayPal: Which Financial Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is also expanding digital B2B payments through a new HSBC mobile virtual card solution, which could help deepen transaction volume in a growing enterprise payments segment. Article: HSBC and Mastercard accelerate growth of digital B2B payments with launch of mobile virtual card solution
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Mastercard with Visa and PayPal generally reinforces that Mastercard remains a strong business, but these pieces were more comparative than catalyst-driven and do not point to a major near-term change in fundamentals. Article: Mastercard vs. Visa: What Comparing Revenue Trends Tells Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s “Agent Pay” push and broader AI-commerce messaging suggest continued product innovation, but the immediate financial impact is still unclear. Article: Mastercard CMO Jill Kramer unveils ‘Agent Pay’ to secure AI commerce
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh EU pressure tied to digital euro plans could increase competitive and regulatory risk for Mastercard in Europe if policymakers favor public or European payment alternatives. Article: Mastercard (MA) Faces Fresh EU Pressure As Digital Euro Plans Advance

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $494.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $436.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $497.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $520.38.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

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.