Foundation Mastercard Sells 114,000 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 114,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.57, for a total transaction of $52,732,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,767,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,761,653,661.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more 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 Wednesday, April 24th, Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.78, for a total transaction of $50,443,020.00.
• 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 transaction 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 transaction of $50,743,650.00.
• 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 transaction of $97,450.00.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $442.30 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $470.78 and a 200 day moving average of $437.42. The firm has a market cap of $412.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $357.85 and a 1 year high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.23.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 valued at $1,252,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929,940 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew 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 valued at $322,867,000 after purchasing an additional 791,799 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew 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 valued at $8,974,478,000 after purchasing an additional 676,452 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is 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.