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

William Blair reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a research note published on Friday morning,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.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $555.63 on Friday. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $528.28 and a 200-day moving average of $501.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders 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 is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,968 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,302,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $211,000. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $749,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.