Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $731.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $668.00 to $731.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MA. Clear Str raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $696.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $698.36.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1%

MA stock opened at $638.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $559.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $586.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $536.21. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $464.52 and a 52 week high of $644.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 19.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,781,695.49. This trade represents a 12.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total transaction of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,165,000. This trade represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,420 shares of company stock valued at $22,882,963 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Fundsmith LLP bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $639,458,000. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 147.2% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $863,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,671 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 295.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 860,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $441,702,000 after buying an additional 642,724 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $293,574,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Mastercard by 30.5% during the first quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 2,464,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,231,412,000 after acquiring an additional 575,412 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Mastercard News

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

About Mastercard

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.