Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,735 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 87.4% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,129,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 116,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.04, for a total transaction of $51,624,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,651,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,013,698,112.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 116,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.04, for a total transaction of $51,624,640.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,651,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,013,698,112.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 583,088 shares of company stock valued at $266,873,978. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.55.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA traded up $2.48 on Friday, reaching $443.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,711,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,301. The firm has a market cap of $413.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $470.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $437.44. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $357.85 and a 52 week high of $490.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Mastercard 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.