Venkata R. Madabhushi Sells 4,685 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $3.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $501.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,202,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,435,126. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $501.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $462.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $460.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,399,279,000 after acquiring an additional 330,872 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,974,478,000 after acquiring an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,574,347,000 after acquiring an additional 43,881 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,241,297,000 after purchasing an additional 71,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,908,973,000 after purchasing an additional 113,238 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.08.

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.