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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Susquehanna from $665.00 to $740.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “positive” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Susquehanna‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.26% from the stock’s previous close.

MA has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $642.00 to $696.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.70.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $636.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $585.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $535.85. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $641.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The firm has a market cap of $557.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of Mastercard 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total transaction of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,559.77. This trade 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. Insiders have sold a total of 56,048 shares of company stock worth $32,527,203 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. Atlatl Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% in the third quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Athena Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Mastercard News

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.