Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stock Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,304 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,370 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $55,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 58.7% in the third quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 73 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $720.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $597.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $713.21.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.01, for a total transaction of $217,038.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,035,181.07. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $660.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $597.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $541.07. The stock has a market cap of $575.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $464.52 and a 12-month high of $681.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 18.20%.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here’s some of the latest news about MA:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is partnering with Sage and Adyen on small-business financial services. Mastercard will provide the card network for Sage business debit cards, while Adyen supplies banking infrastructure for the initial French rollout. Read about the Sage, Adyen and Mastercard partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Other partnerships broaden Mastercard’s business-banking reach, including a BMO commercial card in Canada and Citizens’ treasury-management collaboration using Mastercard technology. Read about Mastercard’s business-banking partnerships
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach highlighted cybersecurity threats to financial infrastructure. The comments underscore an ongoing operational risk but did not describe a specific incident or financial impact. Watch the CEO’s cybersecurity comments

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods. The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.