Mastercard’s (MA) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at William Blair

William Blair reissued their outperform rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a research report sent to investors on Friday,RTT News reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Mastercard’s Q1 2025 earnings at $3.53 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $4.12 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $15.94 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $4.16 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.74 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.98 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $4.97 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $18.83 EPS.

Several other analysts have also commented on MA. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $595.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MA opened at $555.63 on Friday. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $528.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $501.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after acquiring an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.