Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $670.6087.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial set a $611.00 price target on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Robbins Farley raised its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SoFiUSD stablecoin partnership — Mastercard will allow SoFi’s fully reserved U.S. dollar stablecoin to be used for card‑based settlements and cross‑border/B2B flows, advancing its payments‑infrastructure growth thesis and opening new settlement revenue/use cases. SoFi’s stablecoin joins Mastercard’s network
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America buy rating and $700 price target — BofA initiated/reinstated coverage with a bullish call and a materially higher price target, signaling sizable analyst upside expectations versus today’s level (supports momentum in the stock).
• Positive Sentiment: BofA sees card networks as safe sector bets — Bank of America highlights steady transaction growth and broader digital payments adoption, reinforcing a defensive, long‑term growth narrative for Visa and Mastercard. BofA sees card networks as safest bets, bullish on Visa & Mastercard
• Positive Sentiment: AI payments pilots and merchant innovation — Successful Singapore trial of autonomous AI agent payments with DBS and UOB and continued work on agentic standards demonstrate product leadership in emerging payment rails and potential new fee streams. Mastercard, DBS and UOB successfully trial autonomous payment by AI agent in Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Investor presentations / fundamentals — Recent Morgan Stanley presentation and last quarter’s earnings beat (strong EPS and revenue growth) support the view that Mastercard’s core network and value‑added services remain durable growth drivers. Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Presents at Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/TV commentary — High‑profile segments (e.g., Cramer’s “Stop Trading” piece) can add short‑term noise but carry limited fundamental weight versus corporate announcements and analyst actions. Cramer’s Stop Trading: Mastercard
• Neutral Sentiment: Card co‑branded product reviews — New card launches and reviews (Upromise, Bank of America business card) support network volume but are issuer‑driven and typically have marginal near‑term impact on MA’s stock. Upromise World Mastercard Review
• Negative Sentiment: AI shopping agent risk — Research flags that AI agents could disintermediate card networks’ role in checkout, creating strategic risk that may pressure long‑term margins if not addressed. Are Visa and Mastercard vulnerable to AI shopping agents?
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory challenges — Coverage noting Europe’s push for an independent payment system highlights potential regulatory/competitive headwinds that could limit network expansion or pricing power in key regions. Why Europe needs a payment system independent of Mastercard and Visa

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $524.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $540.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $558.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $467.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

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.