Prospera Financial Services Inc Decreases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Prospera Financial Services Inc decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,045 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,807,283,000 after buying an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,885,944,000 after buying an additional 629,941 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,303,015,000 after buying an additional 235,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,658,547 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,218,638,000 after purchasing an additional 339,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a partnership with JD.com to expand global payment connectivity and explore agentic AI-powered purchasing solutions, which could support future transaction volume growth and strengthen its digital commerce position. Mastercard (MA) Partners With JD.com To Build Out Global Payment Connectivity And Explore Agentic AI-Powered Purchasing Solutions
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard also partnered with ryd to launch a digital-first fleet payment operating system in Europe, highlighting continued expansion in commercial payments and acceptance-network usage. Mastercard and Ryd Target Fragmented European Fleet Payments Market
• Positive Sentiment: BMONI and Mastercard said they are partnering to unlock instant card access for consumers in Nigeria, another sign of Mastercard’s continued push into emerging-market digital payments. BMONI and Mastercard Partner to Unlock Instant Card Access for Consumers in Nigeria
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its fintech innovation footprint by launching Mastercard Lighthouse in the UAE with the UAE AI Office, which may help the company identify new payment and AI-related growth opportunities. Mastercard Lighthouse launches in UAE in collaboration with UAE AI Office to accelerate fintech innovation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard continues to draw investor attention, but the article is largely a recap rather than a new catalyst. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider reduced their stake, which can attract attention but does not necessarily signal a major change in fundamentals. This Mastercard Insider Reduced Their Stake By 43%
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that UK and European regulators may push for more fee transparency and regional payment alternatives, which could pressure Mastercard’s pricing power and market share. Should Visa & Mastercard Investors Worry About UK & Europe’s Moves?
• Negative Sentiment: Market chatter that Mastercard is asking Brazilian payment processors to help cover losses tied to Banco Master’s failure may add near-term earnings uncertainty. Market Chatter: Mastercard Asks Brazil’s Payment Processors to Help Pay for Banco Master Failure
• Negative Sentiment: Broader headlines about Europe’s payment alliance targeting Visa and Mastercard reinforce competitive and regulatory risks for MA’s network model. Europe’s 130-million-user payment alliance takes aim at Visa and Mastercard

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $656.00.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3%

Mastercard stock opened at $498.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $501.67 and a 200 day moving average of $529.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $480.50 and a 12-month high of $601.77. 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 released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.73 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.