What is William Blair’s Forecast for Mastercard Q1 Earnings?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) – Analysts at William Blair dropped their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Mastercard in a report released on Friday, January 31st. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now forecasts that the credit services provider will post earnings of $3.53 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $3.56. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Mastercard’s current full-year earnings is $16.04 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Mastercard’s 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.

MA has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $559.21 on Monday. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The company has a market capitalization of $513.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $529.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $502.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew 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 worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in 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 buying an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

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.