Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives $656.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $656.0385.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $679.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $494.22 on Wednesday. Mastercard has a one year low of $480.50 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $501.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $528.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said consumer spending trends in the Middle East remain solid, which supports the view that cross-border and payments volume remain healthy. Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach: Overall spending trends in the Middle East remain solid
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard CTO Ed McLaughlin highlighted the company’s focus on future payment infrastructure, reinforcing investor confidence in Mastercard’s innovation pipeline and long-term growth strategy. Mastercard CTO Ed McLaughlin on Firm’s Goal to ‘Set the Stage for the Future’
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage from multiple outlets argued that Mastercard remains a top long-term growth stock, with continued emphasis on its scale, profitability, and decades of strong stock performance. Why Mastercard (MA) is a top growth stock for the long term
• Positive Sentiment: News that Increase expanded push-to-card transfers for Mastercard and Visa cards underscores continued adoption of Mastercard-linked payment rails in instant payout and refund use cases. Increase Expands Instant Payment Solutions to Include Push-to-Card Transfers
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles marked Mastercard’s 20-year IPO anniversary and its historical stock gains; these reinforce the company’s strong track record but do not change near-term fundamentals. NYSE Content Update: Mastercard Celebrates Two Decades as NYSE-Listed Company
• Neutral Sentiment: Other pieces compared Mastercard with Visa or highlighted its long-term share-price surge, which is supportive sentiment but not a direct catalyst for the stock today. Mastercard’s stock is up 11,000% since its IPO 20 years ago. What comes next?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader consumer-spending commentary around selective shopping and Memorial Day promotions could signal a more cautious backdrop for payment volumes if discount-driven spending softness persists. Memorial Day Sales Test the Selective Consumer

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $284,000. Ritter Alpha LP bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $212,000. Summitry LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 150,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $75,016,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Grp LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankChampaign National Association bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.