Foundation Mastercard Sells 109,000 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total value of $49,863,140.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,215,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,472,114,797.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Thursday, April 18th, Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock. The stock was 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 Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $462.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $431.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $435.26. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $357.85 and a 1-year high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 484 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.0% in the first quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 794 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the first quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the first quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 6,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.