Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,686 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th 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 period. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Roundup

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

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $488.95 on Wednesday. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market capitalization of $432.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $498.16 and a 200-day moving average of $520.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.08.

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.