Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Shares Down 0.6% Following Insider Selling

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s stock price fell 0.6% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $453.85 and last traded at $453.85. 369,867 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 2,410,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $456.52.

Specifically, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 151,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.55, for a total transaction of $68,335,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,930,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,413,260,885.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,681,580 shares of company stock valued at $765,101,407 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $497.78.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $465.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $444.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.23 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.