GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 70.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 619 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,448 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,233,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 153.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $1,113,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th 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. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.00.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $498.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $440.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $501.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $529.52. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.Mastercard’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

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

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.