Zacks Research Has Optimistic View of Mastercard Q1 Earnings

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Mastercard in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $4.24 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.23. The consensus estimate for Mastercard’s current full-year earnings is $15.91 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Mastercard’s Q4 2026 earnings at $4.92 EPS and Q2 2027 earnings at $5.50 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.93.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $582.06 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $563.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $554.61. Mastercard has a one year low of $461.90 and a one year high of $594.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.19 billion, a PE ratio of 39.25, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,196,757.55. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,453 shares of company stock worth $20,178,667 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after purchasing an additional 931,132 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,062,509,000 after acquiring an additional 542,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.