Insider Selling: Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Director Sells 310 Shares of Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) Director Julius Genachowski sold 310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.00, for a total transaction of $173,910.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,669,203. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $2.99 on Thursday, hitting $546.71. 3,758,991 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,664,221. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $594.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The company has a market cap of $498.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $561.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $545.04.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 21.32%.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213,123 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $837,017,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given 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 price target of $611.50.

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.

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