Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

MA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Redburn Partners set a $685.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $662.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 4.3%

NYSE MA opened at $543.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $488.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.76, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $554.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $564.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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 $4.21 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 22.25%.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 16.9% during the second quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 533 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 21.7% during the second quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 1,961 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,102,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 8,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,763,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings topped expectations — EPS beat, GDV and cross‑border volumes were key drivers of topline and margin strength. Mastercard’s Q4 Earnings Beat on Strong GDV, Cross-Border Volume
• Positive Sentiment: Management laid out strategy beyond cards — investment in agentic commerce and stablecoins as alternative rails, signaling longer‑term revenue opportunities from new payment rails and value‑added services. Mastercard Leans Into Agentic Commerce and Stablecoins While Card Volumes Rise
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded MA to a stronger rating, adding buy‑side momentum after the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald upgrade via Zacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcripts and highlights are available for detail on guidance and metric cadence (useful for modeling but not a surprise to the market). Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Product mentions and card reviews (Forbes pieces) note Mastercard network adoption on new card products — relevant for network volume over time but not immediately market moving. MBNA True Line Mastercard Review
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard will reduce roughly 4% of its global workforce after a business review — could be read as cost discipline (positive for margins) but introduces execution and morale risks. Mastercard to lay off 4% of its global workforce, CFO says
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and sector‑risk commentary: some analysts and commentators say MA looks expensive, and broader payments/consumer‑spend headwinds or regulatory pressure could cap near‑term upside. Mastercard stock is expensive, but Q4 earnings still warrant a buy
• Negative Sentiment: Investor note on sector risks highlights macro and regulatory uncertainties that could amplify volatility for payments leaders despite strong fundamentals. Investor Outlook: Mastercard earnings underscore sector risks

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.