Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Major Shareholder Sells $49,863,140.00 in Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total transaction of $49,863,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,215,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,472,114,797.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock 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 transaction 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 transaction of $97,450.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $462.50 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $357.85 and a one year 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $471.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $435.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.10, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,929,940 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 791,799 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 742,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mastercard

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.