Foundation Mastercard Sells 111,000 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,432,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large 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, March 21st, Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

MA stock opened at $455.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $424.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $357.85 and a 12 month high of $490.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $471.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $434.07.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.23.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,595,559,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 111,819.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,983,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,080,549,000 after buying an additional 5,977,885 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,509,328,000 after buying an additional 2,385,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,960,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,164,263,000 after buying an additional 1,755,483 shares during the last quarter. 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.