Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 90,889 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 75.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,835 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 90,889 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,548,000 after purchasing an additional 178,387 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $431,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $490.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $433.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $499.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $521.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is pushing deeper into AI-driven “agentic commerce” with its new Agent Pay and related partnerships, which could help it capture more of the next wave of digital payments as AI agents begin shopping and paying on behalf of consumers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its cross-border payments footprint through partnerships involving PaidBy and the Appia Foundation, reinforcing its international network and transaction growth opportunities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Mastercard’s network-focused model, faster growth profile, and estimated upside versus American Express, suggesting the stock may still have room to rerate as digital payments expand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a quarterly dividend, which can appeal to income-focused investors and signals continued cash generation and shareholder returns.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard executives said consumers are still navigating the current economy reasonably well, which supports the view that spending trends remain stable but does not directly change the company’s outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary on Mastercard’s former CMO and broader AI-driven marketing trends is more about the company’s thought leadership than a direct financial catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Mastercard with Remitly Global and a note about Mastercard being a top-ranked momentum stock are generally supportive, but they are more market commentary than new fundamentals. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: News that Russia is working on a plan to remove Visa and Mastercard highlights geopolitical and regulatory risk that could weigh on long-term international payment volumes. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $656.04.

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.