NorthRock Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank OZK grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 10,233 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,821,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 145,086 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $82,526,000 after purchasing an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc boosted its position in Mastercard by 9.5% during the third quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 19,671 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 121.6% during the third quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,727,000 after purchasing an additional 17,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zuckerman Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 11.9% in the third quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 3,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $497.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $444.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $532.92 and a 200 day moving average of $554.59.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Launched a global Crypto Partner Program to connect 85+ crypto firms and on‑chain infrastructure to Mastercard’s card network, positioning MA to capture tokenized settlement and new rails for payments. Mastercard’s On-Chain Push
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded stablecoin ties — SoFiUSD can now be used as a settlement option across Mastercard’s network, opening use cases in cross‑border remittances, B2B payments and programmable treasury that could lower friction and fees for some flows. Can SoFi (SOFI) Leverage Its Mastercard Stablecoin Tie-Up
• Positive Sentiment: Rolled out AI-driven “Virtual C-Suite” starting with a Virtual CFO for small businesses — productizing payments data into actionable finance tools could deepen merchant relationships and create subscription/merchant-service revenue. Mastercard’s Virtual C-Suite Brings AI-Powered CFO
• Positive Sentiment: Partnered with Ericsson to simplify digital money movement for telcos, fintechs and banks — extension into telecom rails targets financial inclusion and new transaction flows in underbanked markets. Ericsson and Mastercard Enhance Global Digital Money Movement
• Positive Sentiment: Industry uptake: multiple blockchain firms (e.g., Ava Labs) and payments infrastructure providers are joining Mastercard’s program, signaling broader ecosystem support that could accelerate real-world usage. Ava Labs joins Mastercard program
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and retail interest is elevated with several “trending” and comparative pieces (e.g., Visa vs. Mastercard), which can increase trading volatility but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Visa Vs. Mastercard: Which Payment Giant Is The Better Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Key risk: crypto/on‑chain initiatives face regulatory scrutiny and integration execution risks that could delay monetization or increase compliance costs — investors should weigh adoption timelines and regulatory exposure.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $670.83.

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.