Brown Advisory Inc. Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,161,082 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 144,697 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises 2.5% of Brown Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,804,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 861.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,324,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648,748 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $497,311,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

More Mastercard News

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 Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MA opened at $489.36 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $432.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $499.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $523.57.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.04.

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.