Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.

Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,686 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.08.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard unveiled “Agent Pay,” a system designed to secure machine-to-machine and agent-to-agent payments as AI commerce expands, highlighting a new growth avenue for the network. Mastercard CMO Jill Kramer unveils ‘Agent Pay’ to secure AI commerce
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC and Mastercard launched a mobile virtual card solution to accelerate digital B2B payments, which could increase enterprise adoption of Mastercard’s payment infrastructure. HSBC and Mastercard accelerate growth of digital B2B payments with launch of mobile virtual card solution
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Mastercard’s deeper push into cross-border commerce and agentic payments reinforces the view that the company has a long runway for fee-based growth. How Mastercard (MA) Is Pushing Deeper Into Cross-Border Commerce and Agentic Payments
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles this morning were mostly bullish commentary, including pieces arguing Mastercard remains a high-margin stock with a long-term runway and a reasonable value relative to peers. Forget the Near-Term Volatility: This High-Margin Payment Processing Stock Has a Decades-Long Runway
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent media coverage also highlighted that Mastercard and Visa are defending their fee model against criticism, which keeps the regulatory overhang in view but does not yet point to a new negative development. Visa, Mastercard fend off fee foes
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard was recently cited as falling more steeply than the broader market in the prior session, suggesting some short-term pressure may still be lingering despite the positive business updates. MasterCard (MA) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $488.95 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $498.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $520.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.