Royal Bank Of Canada Reiterates Outperform Rating for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $656.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 21.60% from the stock’s current price.

MA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $663.74.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:MA traded down $4.25 on Friday, reaching $539.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,491,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,196,199. The stock has a market cap of $484.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.86. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $554.59 and a 200 day moving average of $564.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Mastercard reported adjusted EPS of $4.76 vs. ~$4.24 expected and revenue of $8.81B (up ~17.5% YoY); growth was driven by GDV, cross‑border volume and higher revenue from value‑added services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic tailwinds — Management highlighted investments beyond cards (agentic commerce, stablecoins, cybersecurity/value‑added services) that could expand addressable market and revenue per transaction over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaction mixed — Several outlets say the Q4 beat supports the growth story, but valuation is high; some analysts still view MA as buyable while others flag sector risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Workforce reduction announced — Management completed a review and will cut about 4% of full‑time employees, which could boost near‑term margins but creates execution/PR risks and uncertainty around cost savings timing. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: PR/brand risk from marketing stunt — Coverage flags that a recent “reverse ATM” promotional stunt carries hidden operational/brand risks; negative headlines can pressure sentiment even if not material to fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Sector/valuation headwinds — Broader payments/consumer‑spend risk and high multiples are tempering enthusiasm; some investors are taking profits after the run‑up. Read More.

About Mastercard

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.