Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Target Raised at Barclays

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target raised by Barclays from $660.00 to $700.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MA. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $698.36.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:MA opened at $638.50 on Friday. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $644.24. The stock has a market cap of $559.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $586.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.21.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.38 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total value of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,048 shares of company stock worth $32,527,203. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,093,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 141,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $72,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,656,528 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $850,004,000 after acquiring an additional 82,793 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in Mastercard by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 81,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,751 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results exceeded expectations: Mastercard reported adjusted earnings of $5.31 per share versus the $5.17 consensus, while revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion, ahead of the $9.66 billion estimate. Net income increased 18% to approximately $4.6 billion. Reuters earnings article
• Positive Sentiment: Payment activity and services remained strong: Purchase volume rose 9%, cross-border volume increased 11%, and switched transactions grew 9% on a local-currency basis. Value-added services revenue advanced 19%, supported by fraud prevention, data and marketing offerings, while the adjusted operating margin reached 60.5%.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved materially: TD Cowen, Wells Fargo, RBC, Barclays, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Susquehanna all raised their price targets, with targets ranging from $700 to $750 and ratings including “buy,” “overweight” and “outperform.” Analysts also highlighted Mastercard’s potential in AI commerce, tokenized payments and stablecoins. Zacks earnings call article
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard continues expanding its payments ecosystem through partnerships involving Google Pay, pay-by-bank services, co-branded cards and agentic commerce. These initiatives could support long-term transaction growth, although their near-term financial contribution is uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors face legal and financial risks. A proposed £5 billion UK collective lawsuit alleges Mastercard’s interchange fees harmed merchants. Separately, nine-month operating cash flow declined 6%, while buybacks and dividends exceeded operating cash flow and debt increased by roughly $4.9 billion. UK lawsuit article

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.