Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Buys 2,648 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 58,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 2.2% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $29,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $526.14 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $464.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $499.66 and a 200-day moving average of $517.11.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,880. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Mastercard from $671.00 to $664.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.78.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Mastercard to strong-buy, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop and reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a platform designed to enable secure AI-agent and machine-to-machine payments, which could open a new growth avenue in emerging digital commerce. Mastercard (MA) Launches AP4M To Bring AI Agent Payments Onchain
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and VEON announced a partnership to expand financial services across several markets, highlighting continued international expansion and transaction-network growth potential. VEON (VEON), Mastercard (MA) Partner to Expand Financial Services
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still expect strong fundamentals, and recent commentary emphasized Mastercard’s resilient operations and earnings-growth forecasts, which helped support the stock despite technical weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard will report second-quarter 2026 results on July 30, keeping investors focused on payment-volume trends, margins, and whether growth can justify the valuation. Mastercard Incorporated to Host Conference Call on Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale of 200 shares was disclosed, but it was a small pre-planned transaction under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, so it is not a major signal by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard’s move below its 200-day moving average may be weighing on sentiment, as traders often view that level as a key technical support point.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader concerns around stablecoin competition, regulatory fee pressure, and alternative payment rails could pressure legacy card-network stocks like Mastercard and Visa.

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.