Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.44 Billion Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,534,117 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,710 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,441,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Souders Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Mastercard by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 2,032 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.9% during the third quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,058,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Topsail Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. Topsail Wealth Management LLC now owns 567 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 22,271 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Financial Co grew its position in Mastercard by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 2,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat — Mastercard reported stronger‑than‑expected EPS and revenue, with growth in gross dollar volume, cross‑border spending and cybersecurity/value‑added services, supporting the case for durable revenue growth. Zacks Q4 Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Macquarie raised its price target to $675 and kept an “outperform” rating — another vote of confidence that supports upside expectations. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen nudged its target higher to $671 and maintains a “buy” — adds to the cluster of bullish analyst views following the print. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed its “outperform” rating with a $656 target — another supportive analyst anchor above the current price. TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan trimmed its target from $685 to $655 but kept an “overweight” rating — slightly less bullish upside than before, but still constructive overall. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Management outlined strategic moves into agentic commerce and stablecoins — promising long‑term optionality but uncertain near‑term revenue impact. PYMNTS
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard will cut about 4% of full‑time employees after a business review — a near‑term cost action that can boost margins but may signal internal pressure or slower growth in some areas. Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and sector risk commentary (including discussion of potential card legislation and broader sector headwinds) adds uncertainty to valuation and investor risk appetite. BNN Bloomberg

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $668.78.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $538.62 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $554.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $564.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

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.