Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MA. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price target on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $659.81.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $502.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $538.37. The company has a market cap of $448.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $480.50 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.07%.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 53,535.0% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after acquiring an additional 72,461,743 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $6,705,708,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 861.6% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 4,072,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,324,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648,748 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after acquiring an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,181,341,000 after purchasing an additional 955,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets upgraded Mastercard to “strong‑buy,” which can provide buying support and signal improved analyst conviction. Mastercard upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard reported continued revenue growth and reduced emissions for a third straight year — a combination of top‑line momentum and ESG progress that supports longer‑term investor confidence. Mastercard grows revenue, reduces emissions for third straight year
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect earnings growth for the upcoming quarter; Zacks highlights factors that could produce an earnings beat, which can be a near‑term catalyst when results arrive. MasterCard reports next week article
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard joined the Blockchain Security Standards Council and is pushing fintech/security initiatives — strategic moves that can expand corridors for cross‑border and digital payments. Mastercard joins BSSC article
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer media coverage includes card reviews (e.g., Citi/AAdvantage co‑brand), which raise brand visibility but have limited direct impact on MA’s network economics. Citi/AAdvantage card review
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary explains recent intraday weakness in MA shares; useful for context but not a new fundamental development. Why Mastercard dipped article
• Negative Sentiment: A proposed Visa–Mastercard policy/deal would give merchants more power to steer customer spending and payment routing — a shift that could compress interchange margins or alter network economics if broadly adopted. Proposed Visa–Mastercard deal article
• Negative Sentiment: New litigation alleging issues with card fees (Visa and Mastercard named) represents regulatory/legal risk that can pressure the stock by threatening fee structure or increasing compliance costs. Visa, Mastercard face suit over card fees

Mastercard Company Profile

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.