Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Jumps 3.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) were up 3.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $673.50 and last traded at $671.8450. Approximately 4,566,613 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 30% from the average daily volume of 3,512,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $647.18.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s third-quarter revenue rose 14% year over year to $9.81 billion, and EPS of $5.31 topped analyst estimates. Management cited growth across its core network and value-added services, supporting confidence in the company’s operating momentum. Q3 results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is another support: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target to $765 and maintained an Overweight rating after the earnings report. Cantor Fitzgerald rating
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is extending digital-payment access through Samsung Pay in Morocco and a new Shiffa Card with Safwa Islamic Bank. These launches could broaden customer use and payment volume in the region. Samsung Pay expansion in Morocco Shiffa Card launch
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships with Tencent—including work on cross-border payments and remittances—and OpenAI’s agentic-commerce collaboration offer potential longer-term avenues for network growth. Tencent partnership plans
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Ling Hai sold shares in transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales may draw investor attention, though the plan makes them less clearly indicative of a change in his outlook. SEC filing on CFO share sales

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $702.91.

Mastercard Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $588.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $589.30 and a 200-day moving average of $537.28.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total transaction of $2,774,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,966,872.50. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total value of $217,038.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,035,181.07. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Premier Financial Group bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 102.6% in the second quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 79 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.