Banco Santander S.A. Purchases 17,088 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,088 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $68,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 35.8% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after purchasing an additional 178,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $431,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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

NYSE:MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $499.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $523.57. 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 company has a market cap of $432.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.