Mastercard Incorporated $MA Holdings Trimmed by Styrax Capital LP

Styrax Capital LP decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 200,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 6.8% of Styrax Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Styrax Capital LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $102,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% during the second quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Novem Group lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.4% during the second quarter. Novem Group now owns 4,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.5% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,623 shares of company stock valued at $42,544,606. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $666.64.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $579.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $507.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $558.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $521.47. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $601.62.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s Strive India program has helped small businesses access more than $150 million in credit. The initiative strengthens Mastercard’s role in financial inclusion and could expand future payment volumes in a large growth market. Mastercard Strive India Aids Small Firms With Over $150 Million in Credit
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched its first Start Path cohort focused on agentic commerce, with 22 startups developing technology that enables AI agents to initiate and complete transactions. The effort positions Mastercard to capture a potential new payments channel as autonomous purchasing develops. Mastercard Start Path Launches Inaugural Agentic Commerce Cohort
• Positive Sentiment: Citi Hong Kong plans to introduce a virtual credit card with a dynamic card validation code in partnership with Mastercard. The product could improve digital-payment security and reinforce Mastercard’s technology value proposition. Citi Hong Kong Dynamic CVC Virtual Credit Card Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard expanded leadership for digital acceptance in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and launched travel deals with Klook. Both developments may support merchant adoption and engagement, but are unlikely to materially change near-term earnings. Mastercard Elevates Vanshi Kotru Mastercard and Klook Launch Travel Deals
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares valued at approximately $1.9 million, reducing his direct holdings by 8.18%. Because the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, it is a limited bearish signal, but it can still weigh on sentiment—particularly with Mastercard trading near a 52-week high and at a premium earnings multiple. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

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.