Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 51.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,547 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 222,570 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Mastercard were worth $114,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 10Elms LLP purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,630,844.40. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,441 shares of company stock valued at $20,173,035. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Macquarie dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.50.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $11.64 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $561.96. 5,054,638 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,671,419. The firm has a market capitalization of $512.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $563.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $545.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.32%.

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.