Mastercard Incorporated $MA is Sarasin & Partners LLP’s 6th Largest Position

Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 727,985 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,686 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 4.1% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $413,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after purchasing an additional 931,132 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,725,317,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded access to its Merchant Cloud through a collaboration with MoneyHash, which should improve merchant payment performance and drive incremental merchant onboarding and transaction growth. Mastercard Expands Access to Merchant Cloud Through Collaboration With MoneyHash to Enhance Merchant Payment Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched a “Loan on Card” solution to expand lending through its network — a direct revenue lever that could increase interest-related fees and deepen cardholder engagement. Mastercard Introduces Loan on Card to Expand Lending Opportunities
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional collaboration with BlackRock and Franklin Templeton via the ADI Foundation signals growing institutional adoption and credibility for Mastercard’s initiatives, potentially supporting large-scale enterprise partnerships. BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton Announce Collaboration with ADI Foundation, Signaling Institutional Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Regional expansion: Mastercard boosted its Africa acceptance network ~45% in 2025, supporting long-term volume growth in underpenetrated markets. Mastercard Boosts Africa Acceptance Network by 45% in 2025, Accelerating the Continent’s Digital Economy
• Positive Sentiment: New consumer and marketing initiatives — e.g., McLaren Racing co-branded perks and youth financial-education programs — help drive card engagement and brand differentiation. Mastercard launches McLaren Racing Mastercard Pass with FAB Spendsafe launches Full-Service Financial Education Platform for Youth Backed by Mastercard in Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Background pieces (INET history, EVTC vs MA comparison) provide context for investors but do not change fundamentals immediately; EVTC comparison may influence value-oriented buy/sell decisions for some investors. How INET Transformed MasterCard Transactions: An Overview EVTC vs. MA: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal: Visa and Mastercard agreed to pay a combined $167.5M to settle a class-action ATM-fee lawsuit. The charge is manageable vs Mastercard’s market cap but is a reminder of ongoing litigation and regulatory risk in fee practices. Visa, Mastercard to pay $167.5 million in ATM user fee settlement? Visa and Mastercard agree to pat €142 million to settle ATM fee lawsuit

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.48.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $572.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $514.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $553.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Mastercard 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.