Railway Pension Loads Up With 240,000 Mastercard (MA) Shares in Q3

Railway Pension Investments Ltd disclosed a significant purchase of approximately 240,000 Mastercard shares in Q3 2025. It was an estimated $137.8 million trade based on the quarterly average price, according to an SEC filing dated Oct. 22, 2025.

What happened

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated Oct. 22, 2025, Railway Pension Investments Ltd bought 240,000 additional shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA). The estimated transaction value was $137.8 million, bringing the fund's total to 329,600 shares worth $187.48 million as of Q3 2025.

What else to know

After this buy, Mastercard accounts for 2.54% of the fund’s 13F AUM.

Top five holdings after this filing:

• Microsoft: $484.7 million (6.57% of AUM)
• Alphabet: $265.4 million (3.60% of AUM)
• Visa: $200.5 million (2.72% of AUM)
• AbbVie: $197.7 million (2.7% of AUM)
• Amazon: $196.6 million (2.66% of AUM)

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Mastercard offers transaction processing, payment network services, cyber and intelligence solutions, analytics, consulting, managed services, and digital identity platforms under brands such as MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus.

The company generates revenue primarily from transaction fees charged to financial institutions and merchants for payment processing and value-added services.

It serves financial institutions, merchants, businesses, governments, and consumers globally, with a focus on enabling secure and efficient electronic payments.

Foolish take

Railway Pension's (also known as Railpen) Mastercard position now accounts for 2.54% of the fund's U.S. equity assets. While that leaves it outside the fund's top five holdings, the increase in shares was meaningful.

Mastercard was barely a top 50 holding for the pension investment manager. It is now just outside the top 10. It more than tripled its Mastercard share ownership with the transaction. That indicates Railpen likes Mastercard's prospects, or that it has a positive view of the sector.

The latter is likely the case, considering Mastercard peer Visa is Railpen's third-largest investment as of the end of Q3. While those two names are competitors, both global payments technology companies are affected by similar macroeconomic conditions. Both are also working to add digital payment technologies to their offerings.

Railpen's Mastercard position clearly represents a bullish take on payments, credit, and global consumption in general. Investors can learn more when Mastercard reports quarterly earnings next Thursday, Oct. 30.

Glossary

13F: A quarterly SEC filing by institutional investment managers disclosing their U.S. equity holdings.
AUM: Assets Under Management; the total market value of investments managed by a fund or institution.
Quarterly average price: The average share price over a specific fiscal quarter, used to estimate transaction values.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends paid by a company divided by its share price, expressed as a percentage.
Transaction processing: The handling of electronic payment transactions between buyers, sellers, and financial institutions.
Value-added services: Additional services provided beyond basic transaction processing, such as analytics or fraud prevention.
Managed services: Outsourced operational support and management of technology or business functions for clients.
Digital identity platforms: Systems that verify and manage users' digital identities for secure online transactions.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Howard Smith has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Visa. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie, Alphabet, Amazon, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.