Candriam S.C.A. Has $194.50 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 389,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 27,807 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.0% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $194,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 54.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total value of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,005 shares of company stock valued at $3,689,976 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

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.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $526.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $499.66 and its 200-day moving average is $517.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $464.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.78.

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.