Strs Ohio Sells 45,187 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 472,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 45,187 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.0% of Strs Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Strs Ohio owned about 0.05% of Mastercard worth $269,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,233,000 after purchasing an additional 28,331 shares in the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 153.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $1,113,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $175,872,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,795 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — Mastercard reported stronger-than-expected revenue and EPS, with revenue up ~16% YoY and margin/ROE remaining robust; that underpins the company’s earnings momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: MoonPay will issue a virtual Mastercard debit card to let AI agents and users spend stablecoins anywhere Mastercard is accepted — expands crypto-to-fiat flows across the Mastercard network and creates incremental payment volume. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships and product wins (Stripe integration, Wizard, Wells Fargo B2B efforts) reinforce Mastercard’s push into agentic commerce, tokenization and B2B card adoption — supports medium-term volume and fee growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Industry commentary highlights secular upside — analysts’ average price targets imply material upside and some firms have raised FY estimates, signaling continued analyst confidence in long-term growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call materials and transcripts are available for deeper read‑throughs on guidance and segment trends — useful for investors assessing sustainability of cross‑border and value‑added services growth. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its price target from $656 to $629 (still Outperform) — a downgrade in the target can prompt short-term selling even if the rating remains positive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna modestly lowered its target (from $670 to $665) — another target adjustment that may increase near-term volatility despite a positive stance. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: several outlets note the stock fell despite earnings — suggests investor focus on valuation, buyback timing, margin pressure from rising expenses, or simply profit‑taking after recent gains. Read More.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $495.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $506.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $480.50 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Finally, Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.07.

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.