GetCoattail Research — The Filing Tape #191. Mastercard through six filing lenses, as of the latest filings. Past patterns are not a promise of future results. For education only — not investment advice.
The Hype
Mastercard Inc. (MA) appears in a Zacks note dated October 22, 2026, titled "Mastercard Incorporated (MA) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know" — a most-searched-stock note, not an earnings report or a contract announcement. This package cites no news event for Mastercard: the attention claim rests on that listing plus the measured price tape, and nothing else. Zacks puts MA's past-month return at +11.2%, against no change for its S&P 500 composite over the same period and +8.4% for the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry. Zacks also rates MA Rank #2 (Buy) — Zacks's view, cited here as market narrative only.
The price tape behind the attention is a recovery, not a breakout. MA closed 2025 at $570.88, closed June 30, 2026 at $513.60, and closed the price file on October 2 at $552.26 — 7.5% above its June 30 close but 3.3% below its 2025 year-end close. The daily refresh puts the October 23 close at $623.60 — 12.9% above the October 2 close, 21.4% above June 30, 9.2% above the 2025 year-end close, and 1.5% below the $633.29 52-week-high field. The question the filings let us ask: while search interest and the price both rose, what did the tracked holders, the broad market, the company's insiders, and Congress actually do?
The Tape
| Lens | As of | What the filings show | Direction vs prior period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superinvestors (13F) | Jun 30, 2026 | 36 of 147 tracked managers hold; 23,046,703 shares ($11.84B reported). Eagle is 11.6%. | Verified continuing holders +4.6%; 2 new holders are 14.6% of the cohort; 1 exit |
| All institutions (13F) | Jun 30, 2026 | 3,619 filers hold 767,764,922 shares ($382.69B reported). | Shares +11.72%; filers +41; reported value +15.35% |
| Insiders (Form 4) | Oct 2, 2026 | 0 buys and 44 sells in 90 days ($51.07M sold); 0 buys in the whole parsed corpus. | Sells only in every window |
| Congress | Oct 3, 2026 | 0 buys, 2 sells in the combined aggregates; 1 House sell attributed in the members file. | Small sells only; no buys |
| 13D/G | Apr 30, 2026 | Passive only: no 13D; Mastercard Foundation joint position 9.3% then 7.4%; latest filing Vanguard Capital Management at 6.82%. | Largest holder trimmed; one new initial filing |
| Short interest | Sep 15, 2026 | 7,201,181 shares short, 0.80% of shares outstanding; 3.17 days to cover. | −5.14% from prior settlement; −7.1% vs June; +22.4% year over year; −20.5% below the July peak |
Chart: Mastercard through six filing lenses — who is actually there?
Superinvestors. The tracked register for Mastercard is broad and diffuse. Thirty-six of 147 tracked managers hold 23,046,703 shares — $11,837,583,958 reported — and no single holder dominates it. Eagle Capital Management is the largest at 2,682,370 shares, 11.6% of the cohort and 4.21% of its portfolio, after increasing 329.5% in Q2, from 624,540 shares — a gain of 2,057,830 shares, the largest verified increase in the cohort. Sanders Capital is second at 2,330,359 shares (10.1%). The top two together are only 21.8% of the cohort. The direction split is mixed: 12 holders increased, 17 decreased, 5 stood still, and 2 are new. The 34 continuing holders verify exactly under both pairing methods, and their verified change is +4.6% (18,807,317 → 19,677,006 shares, +869,689). The two new holders are the story inside the total: Bill Ackman — Pershing Square Capital Management opened 2,124,646 shares (9.2% of the cohort, 5.61% of its portfolio) and Terry Smith — Fundsmith opened 1,245,051 shares (5.4% of the cohort, 4.69% of its portfolio). Together they are 14.6% of the June cohort, both verified as genuine first positions. One holder exited: Stephen Mandel — Lone Pine Capital, 57,201 shares. The cohort's implied price ($513.63) matches the June 30 close ($513.60) almost exactly. The pipeline register reconciles with residual zero in both quarters once the September early filers' rows are included. Separately, at September 30, 2026, two early filers report MA and are never added to the June total: Sarasin & Partners holds 669,023 shares (down 0.6% from its June register row) and Montrusco Bolton Investments holds 286,931 shares (down 38.7%).
All institutions. The broad market grew with the tracked cohort, and faster. Filers rose by 41 to 3,619, of which 3,609 are long, while reported shares rose 11.72% (+80,539,933 shares to 767,764,922). Reported value rose 15.35% to $382.69 billion — faster than shares, because reported value includes option rows by definition. Underneath, 2,081 filers entered and 2,040 exited, net +41. Excluding the tracked cohort, other institutions hold 744,718,219 shares. The tracked cohort is 3.0% of the full market's reported shares.
Insiders. This lens is one-sided in every window, and the scope of that statement is stated precisely. In the 90 days to October 2, 2026, insiders filed 13 forms with 0 buys and 44 sells — 90,276 shares sold for $51,067,732.28, from 5 distinct sellers, all of them officers. Over one year: 0 buys, 70 sells — 120,312 shares sold for $66,617,209.59, from 7 distinct sellers, all officer sells. Across the whole parsed corpus: 0 buys, 172 sells — 314,668 shares sold for $175,112,214.48, from 9 distinct sellers, across 107 filings. The parsed corpus for this issuer starts February 3, 2025 and ends September 3, 2026, so "zero buys" means zero open-market purchases in that corpus — it is not a claim about the company's history before February 2025. One gap is stated plainly: the site's insider aggregate file has an MA row, but it does not match the corpus aggregate for the 90-day window (site: 32 sells, $40,075,625.04, 3 sellers; corpus: 44 sells, $51,067,732.28, 5 sellers), so no site-aggregate figure is quoted as corroboration — the lens above rests on the full-corpus aggregate and the parsed scan, which agree exactly.
Congress. This lens is small, not blank. The combined aggregates show 0 buys and 2 sells — one House sell and one Senate sell, with no member count in the combined file. The members file attributes the House sell to Rep. Gilbert Cisneros (D): 1 sell, last dated June 5, 2026, in the $1,001 – $15,000 range. The members file covers House periodic transaction reports only, so the Senate sell has no member row in that file; it is counted in the Senate aggregate, not attributed there. Congressional activity in the covered disclosures is two small sells and no buys. Congress disclosures are member filings, not Form 4 insider transactions, and are never added to insider totals.
13D/G. The control register is passive-only, and its largest position has trimmed twice. It holds no Schedule 13D filing at all. The aggregate and the parsed set agree exactly: 5 filings — 1 initial Schedule 13G and 4 amendments — with the latest filing April 30, 2026 and a maximum percent of 9.3%. The largest reported percent is Mastercard Foundation Asset Management Corp jointly with Mastercard Foundation at 9.3% (84,753,156 shares, event December 31, 2024, filed February 12, 2025); the two reporters report the same shares and percent as one joint position and are never summed. That position was later amended to 8.3% (75,194,532 shares, filed August 1, 2025) and then to 7.4% (65,234,702 shares, filed April 16, 2026). The Vanguard Group filed an exit filing of 0 shares, 0.0% (event March 13, 2026, filed March 27, 2026). A distinct reporter, Vanguard Capital Management, filed the register's latest filing: an initial Schedule 13G of 60,415,602 shares, 6.82% (event March 31, 2026, filed April 30, 2026). No filing in the parsed set is dated after April 30, 2026. The register's cross-date total (510,780,382 shares) sums reporter rows across dates and is never quoted as an economic figure.
Short interest. The bear position is small and falling from a recent peak. FINRA short interest stood at 7,201,181 shares at September 15, 2026, with 3.17 days to cover and 0.80% of the 905,000,000 shares outstanding on the fundamentals record's basis. That is 5.14% below the prior settlement (7,591,013 at August 31), 7.1% below June 30 (7,749,084), and 22.4% above the year-ago figure (5,883,618) — but still 20.5% below the series peak of 9,060,825 on July 15, 2026. The last five settlements trace the fall from that peak: 9,060,825 (July 15), 8,962,947 (July 31), 7,188,654 (August 14), 7,591,013 (August 31), 7,201,181 (September 15) — four consecutive settlements below the peak. The series has no step over 2× and none under 0.5×; its largest single-settlement step is ×1.399 (January 13, 2023) and its smallest is ×0.629 (November 15, 2021). Two rows carry revision flags (June 15, 2021; May 31, 2023); no row carries a stock-split flag.
Chart: MA short interest — 137 FINRA settlements, January 2021 to September 2026.
Fundamentals context. The fundamentals record is complete on the fields quoted here: shares outstanding 905,000,000 on a weighted-average basis as of December 31, 2025, revenue $32,791,000,000 and assets $54,157,000,000, both for FY2025. The record's net-income field is dated FY2013 and is not quoted. The recorded market capitalisation is $512,754,915,466.31, on the record's own price_close ($566.58 as of October 6, 2026), not the October 23 close.
The Gap
The attention and the filing tape point in different directions about who is acting. A most-searched listing puts Mastercard in front of readers with a past-month gain of 11.2%, and the price file plus the October 23 refresh show a stock 21.4% above its June close. The filings show that the tracked superinvestor presence is broad — 36 holders, none above 11.6% — with two genuinely new holders supplying 14.6% of the June cohort and the verified continuing holders adding 4.6%, while the broad market added 11.72% of its shares. Against that picture, the company's own insiders recorded no open-market purchases at all in the parsed corpus — 44 sells and zero buys in 90 days, 172 sells and zero buys across the whole corpus — while Congress recorded only two small sells and no buys. The control register produced no activist filing and no new large holder beyond a new 6.82% passive filing, and short interest ended the series small at 0.80% of shares outstanding and falling from its July peak. The tape shows a diffuse institutional base growing, new tracked names entering, insiders selling only, and a small short position shrinking from its peak.
What Would Change the Picture
Nothing above is a recommendation. It is a record. What would change it:
- 1. Q3 13F season (filings due by November 16, 2026). Watch whether Pershing Square and Fundsmith add to their first positions at all, whether Eagle Capital holds its 329.5% Q2 increase, whether any tracked holder exits, and whether the broad-market filer count holds above 3,619.
- 2. A first Form 4 open-market (P) purchase in a filing dated after September 3, 2026. Any purchase would end a parsed corpus in which buys are zero in every window; a purchase by an officer would break the run of officer sells most directly.
- 3. A first Schedule 13D, or a first new initial Schedule 13G after April 30, 2026. Any activist filing would replace the passive-only register; a Mastercard Foundation move from 7.4% in either direction, or a Vanguard Capital Management move from 6.82%, would also change the largest passive positions.
- 4. A first Congress purchase in the covered disclosures, or a sell larger than the $1,001 – $15,000 range attributed so far, would break the picture of two small sells and no buys.
- 5. Short-interest direction. A break back above the July 15 series peak of 9,060,825 — or a fall toward the series low of 3,755,617 — would each tell a different story about the small bear position that ended the series below its peak.
As-of & Limits
| Lens | As of | Limit or note |
|---|---|---|
| Superinvestors (13F) | Jun 30, 2026 | 13F figures are as of June 30, 2026, the quarter-end. Funds have up to 45 days after quarter-end to file, so this is the most recent complete picture — and it is always a lagging one. Common stock only (CUSIP 57636Q104); no option rows, no second class in the tracked file. The 34 continuing holders verify exactly under both pairing methods; both registers reconcile with residual zero once the September early filers' rows are included. September early filers are a separate period and are never added to the June total. |
| All institutions (13F) | Jun 30, 2026 | Reported value includes option rows by definition; implied price ($498.44 in Q2) is not a price check. Value rose faster than shares partly because reported value includes option rows. |
| Insiders (Form 4) | Oct 2, 2026 | "Zero buys" means zero open-market (P) transactions in the stated window, across the parsed corpus for issuer CIK 1141391 (107 filings, filing-date span February 3, 2025 – September 3, 2026). It is not a claim about history before February 2025. The site insider aggregate row does not match the corpus aggregate for the 90-day window, so no site-aggregate figure is quoted. |
| Congress | Oct 3, 2026 | Two sells and no buys in the combined aggregates: 1 House sell attributed to Rep. Gilbert Cisneros (D) on June 5, 2026 ($1,001 – $15,000); 1 Senate sell counted in the Senate aggregate with no member row in the House-only members file. Congress sells are member-disclosure transactions, not Form 4 insider transactions, and are never added to insider totals. |
| 13D/G | Apr 30, 2026 | Passive-only register; no 13D exists in the parsed set. Jointly-reported positions are not summed. Cross-date share totals sum reporter rows across dates and are not economic totals. |
| Short interest | Sep 15, 2026 | Shares-outstanding count is a weighted-average count as of December 31, 2025; the 0.80% ratio inherits that basis. The peak claim is a maximum over all 137 settlements; the latest settlement sits 20.5% below it. The series has no step over 2× and none under 0.5×. |
| Prices | Oct 23, 2026 (fresh close) | Price file ends Oct 2, 2026; the Oct 23 close ($623.60) and moves derived from it are cross-source (chart_stats) and labelled as such. The 52-week-high field ($633.29) is the chart_stats field, not a recomputed file maximum. |
| Fundamentals | FY2025 | Shares outstanding is a weighted-average count as of December 31, 2025. Recorded market capitalisation uses the record's own price_close ($566.58 as of Oct 6, 2026), not the Oct 23 close, and is quoted only as the record's figure. The record's net-income field is FY2013 and is not quoted. |
| Hype source | Oct 25, 2026 (Zacks note) | Search-interest note only (Zacks, Oct 22, 2026); no news event is cited for Mastercard in this article. Zacks's Rank #2 (Buy) is Zacks's own rating, cited as market narrative only. Price moves are measured from the price file and chart_stats. |
Methodology & disclaimer: 13F holdings are long common shares unless stated; reported values include option rows for the all-institutions lens by definition. Short interest is FINRA twice-monthly settlements. Trading costs and taxes are not reflected in any figure. Past patterns are not a promise of future results. For education only — not investment advice.
This article describes filings and market data for education. It is not investment advice. Data: SEC EDGAR 13F (as of June 30, 2026, filed within 45 days), Form 4 corpus checked through October 2, 2026 (107 filings for issuer CIK 1141391), House/Senate disclosures through October 3, 2026, SC 13D/G parsed register through April 30, 2026, FINRA short interest at September 15, 2026 settlement. 13F covers long positions of $100M+ managers only and is always a lagging picture. Trading costs and taxes are not reflected.
Related research: One of 147: First Eagle Is Vital Farms' Only Tracked Holder — and It Added 13.7% While the Full Market Cut 16.7% · Sixteen of 147: Dodge & Cox Is 40.5% of the Tracked Coupang Stake — While Short Interest Rose 363.7% in a Year · Track the tape on Mastercard's stock page and the 13F filing season hub.
Revision history: v1.0 — October 25, 2026. Initial publication. Signals and lens aggregates: ma_lens_data.csv. Short-interest series: ma_short_interest_series.csv.