Insider Selling: Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Major Shareholder Sells 109,000 Shares of Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.78, for a total value of $50,443,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,996,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,887,951,416.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Foundation Mastercard also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 22nd, Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total value of $49,863,140.00.
• On Thursday, April 18th, Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00.
• On Thursday, March 21st, Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $462.04 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $471.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $435.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $431.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.06, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $357.85 and a 52 week high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 43,445.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after buying an additional 2,929,940 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Mastercard by 3,339.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 815,506 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $322,867,000 after buying an additional 791,799 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after buying an additional 742,076 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.