Hilltop Holdings Inc. Cuts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Hilltop Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 72.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 16,668 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 54.1% in the fourth 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. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its virtual card platform with new security controls, single-API access, and broader embedded payments capabilities, which could support more B2B transaction volume and deepen relationships with banks and businesses. Mastercard Expands Virtual Card Platform with New Security Controls, Embedded Payments Network and Single API Access
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is also pushing into the creator economy with a new business debit card partnership, suggesting continued expansion into newer customer segments and additional payment use cases. Mastercard puts its cards on creators with a new business debit card
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street still sees room for earnings growth ahead of Mastercard’s upcoming report, and the stock continues to be viewed as a high-margin “payments-tech” compounder. MasterCard (MA) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Truist trimmed its price target to $554 from $561 but kept a Buy rating, which signals slightly less upside than before without changing the overall bullish stance. Read More
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Mastercard’s positioning in agentic AI, virtual cards, and the creator economy, but these are largely strategic updates rather than immediate financial catalysts. Sunrate and Mastercard Release White Paper on Agentic AI and the Future of B2B Global Payments
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market concern around capex spending and the tech sell-off could create some near-term pressure on valuation multiples, even though Mastercard is not a direct AI infrastructure spender. Capex fears trigger biggest Tech sell-off since ‘Liberation Day’

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Barclays began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $640.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $561.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned 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 $653.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $8,702,934.17. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $539.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $476.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $508.29 and its 200 day moving average is $515.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.14%.

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.