Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,322 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 15,760 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $47,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 141,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $72,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Mastercard by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,656,528 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $850,004,000 after acquiring an additional 82,793 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Mastercard by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 81,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,751 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results exceeded expectations: Mastercard reported adjusted earnings of $5.31 per share versus the $5.17 consensus, while revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion, ahead of the $9.66 billion estimate. Net income increased 18% to approximately $4.6 billion. Reuters earnings article
• Positive Sentiment: Payment activity and services remained strong: Purchase volume rose 9%, cross-border volume increased 11%, and switched transactions grew 9% on a local-currency basis. Value-added services revenue advanced 19%, supported by fraud prevention, data and marketing offerings, while the adjusted operating margin reached 60.5%.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved materially: TD Cowen, Wells Fargo, RBC, Barclays, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Susquehanna all raised their price targets, with targets ranging from $700 to $750 and ratings including “buy,” “overweight” and “outperform.” Analysts also highlighted Mastercard’s potential in AI commerce, tokenized payments and stablecoins. Zacks earnings call article
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard continues expanding its payments ecosystem through partnerships involving Google Pay, pay-by-bank services, co-branded cards and agentic commerce. These initiatives could support long-term transaction growth, although their near-term financial contribution is uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors face legal and financial risks. A proposed £5 billion UK collective lawsuit alleges Mastercard’s interchange fees harmed merchants. Separately, nine-month operating cash flow declined 6%, while buybacks and dividends exceeded operating cash flow and debt increased by roughly $4.9 billion. UK lawsuit article

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $638.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $586.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The stock has a market cap of $559.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $644.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $696.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. President Capital increased their target price on Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $698.36.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total transaction of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,165,000. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,403,600. This trade represents a 8.18% 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. Insiders have sold 56,048 shares of company stock worth $32,527,203 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.