BNP Paribas Buys 3,119 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

BNP Paribas increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $27,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $6,725,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 25.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Six investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $670.83.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Launched a global Crypto Partner Program to connect 85+ crypto firms and on‑chain infrastructure to Mastercard’s card network, positioning MA to capture tokenized settlement and new rails for payments. Mastercard’s On-Chain Push
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded stablecoin ties — SoFiUSD can now be used as a settlement option across Mastercard’s network, opening use cases in cross‑border remittances, B2B payments and programmable treasury that could lower friction and fees for some flows. Can SoFi (SOFI) Leverage Its Mastercard Stablecoin Tie-Up
• Positive Sentiment: Rolled out AI-driven “Virtual C-Suite” starting with a Virtual CFO for small businesses — productizing payments data into actionable finance tools could deepen merchant relationships and create subscription/merchant-service revenue. Mastercard’s Virtual C-Suite Brings AI-Powered CFO
• Positive Sentiment: Partnered with Ericsson to simplify digital money movement for telcos, fintechs and banks — extension into telecom rails targets financial inclusion and new transaction flows in underbanked markets. Ericsson and Mastercard Enhance Global Digital Money Movement
• Positive Sentiment: Industry uptake: multiple blockchain firms (e.g., Ava Labs) and payments infrastructure providers are joining Mastercard’s program, signaling broader ecosystem support that could accelerate real-world usage. Ava Labs joins Mastercard program
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and retail interest is elevated with several “trending” and comparative pieces (e.g., Visa vs. Mastercard), which can increase trading volatility but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Visa Vs. Mastercard: Which Payment Giant Is The Better Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Key risk: crypto/on‑chain initiatives face regulatory scrutiny and integration execution risks that could delay monetization or increase compliance costs — investors should weigh adoption timelines and regulatory exposure.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $497.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $532.92 and a 200 day moving average of $554.32. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $444.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

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.