Circle Internet price target raised to $152 from $136 at Clear Street

Clear Street raised the firm’s price target on Circle Internet (CRCL) to $152 from $136 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm believes Mastercard’s (MA) $1.8B acquisition of BVNK is a “defensive move by an incumbent to protect its core territory,” which has increasingly been captured by blockchain. The deal is also validation of blockchain technology “as a faster, cheaper, global, and 24×7 next-generation rail,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Clear Street is “incrementally more confident” in Circle Internet as a “trusted, regulatory-compliant infrastructure layer.”