GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd Buys 17,116 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,030 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,116 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 6.8% of GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $44,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc increased its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 45.2% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its reach in Africa by partnering with a Tanzanian firm to accelerate digital-payments adoption, supporting regional volume growth and network expansion. Mastercard, Tananian firm partner to fast-track the transformation of digital payment
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is moving into transit payments (users can pay bus fares), a practical payments use case that can increase transactions and deepen merchant/consumer engagement. Mastercard users can pay bus fares
• Positive Sentiment: Reports note Mastercard is hiring for crypto/stablecoin and DeFi roles (e.g., Director of Crypto Flows), signaling continued investment in digital-asset rails that could open new fee pools and product offerings. Mastercard Is Staffing Up for Stablecoins and DeFi — Here’s What That Means
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard is selling its loyalty business, SessionM, to Capillary Technologies for $20 million — a small divestiture that trims non-core assets but is unlikely to move material revenue metrics. Capillary Technologies acquires SessionM from Mastercard for $20 million
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks highlights that Mastercard is a heavily searched stock — increased attention can boost liquidity and short-term volatility but does not itself change fundamentals. Investors Heavily Search Mastercard Incorporated (MA): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Research firm Citrini warns that “agentic commerce” and AI-driven commerce models could disrupt card networks over time — a thematic risk that, if realized, would pressure long-term transaction volumes and margins. Visa, Mastercard, AmEx could be gutted by AI ‘agentic commerce’ threat, Citrini Research warns — but retail traders unfazed by selloff
• Negative Sentiment: European payment apps are pushing into retail payments to challenge Visa/Mastercard dominance in local markets — increased competition could pressure fee growth in certain regions. European payment app targets Visa, Mastercard dominance with retail payments push

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $509.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $454.70 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $547.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $560.28.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued 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. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $669.27.

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.