Insider Selling: Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Insider Sells 1,100 Shares of Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Raj Seshadri also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 20th, Raj Seshadri sold 949 shares of Mastercard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $535.80, for a total transaction of $508,474.20.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded down $4.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $560.32. 1,469,718 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,669,087. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71. The firm has a market cap of $510.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $564.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $545.89.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.25 billion for 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 was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Macquarie reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,238,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $837,017,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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.