Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Gets Price Target Bump from Susquehanna

Key Points

• Susquehanna raised Mastercard’s price target from $665 to $740 while maintaining a positive rating, implying 16.26% upside from the prior close. The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of $688.70.
• Mastercard reported a quarterly earnings beat, with EPS of $5.31 versus the $5.17 estimate and revenue of $9.81 billion versus $9.66 billion expected. Revenue grew 14% year over year, supported by healthy payment volumes and growth in higher-margin services.
• Insiders sold shares worth about $32.5 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors owned 97.28% of the stock. The company also faces a proposed £5 billion UK lawsuit over alleged excessive interchange fees, alongside rising debt and lower operating cash flow.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Susquehanna from $665.00 to $740.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "positive" rating on the credit services provider's stock. Susquehanna's price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.26% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $688.70.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $636.52 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $585.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $535.85. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $641.57. The company has a market capitalization of $557.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% 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. Insiders sold 56,048 shares of company stock worth $32,527,203 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $18,984,867,000 after purchasing an additional 486,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,559,779,000 after buying an additional 480,725 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,831,763,000 after acquiring an additional 554,366 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS increased 21% year over year to $5.31, above the $5.17 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 14% to $9.81 billion, ahead of expectations near $9.66 billion. Net income increased 18% to approximately $4.6 billion. Reuters Mastercard earnings article
• Positive Sentiment: Payment volumes remained healthy. Gross dollar volume rose 7%, purchase volume increased 9%, cross-border volume climbed 11% in local-currency terms and switched transactions grew 9%. The results suggest consumer spending has held up despite inflation and economic uncertainty. Quiver Quant Mastercard payment trends article
• Positive Sentiment: Higher-margin services are strengthening growth. Value-added services and solutions revenue increased 19% on a currency-neutral basis, driven by fraud prevention, data, marketing and cybersecurity offerings. Adjusted operating margin reached 60.5%.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors see additional growth opportunities beyond card payments. Mastercard highlighted tokenized payments for agentic commerce, artificial intelligence partnerships, stablecoin-related capabilities and new digital-payment initiatives in markets including Nigeria and Europe. PYMNTS Mastercard tokenized payments article
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard repurchased 5.3 million shares during the quarter and continued returning capital through dividends and buybacks, supporting per-share results. However, institutional ownership data showed a mixed pattern of additions and reductions.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and balance-sheet risks remain. Mastercard faces a proposed £5 billion UK collective lawsuit alleging excessive interchange fees. Separately, operating cash flow declined 6% over the first nine months, while buybacks and dividends exceeded operating cash flow and debt increased by roughly $4.9 billion. Yahoo Finance Mastercard 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.

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