Raj Seshadri Sells 1,977 Shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Key Points

• Mastercard insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares on July 2 at an average price of $529.73, totaling about $1.05 million. The sale reduced her direct holdings by 10.74% and was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Mastercard’s shares were trading higher on the day of the report, reaching $539.00, close to the stock’s recent range and well above its 50-day moving average. The company still carries a large market cap of about $476 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Mastercard after the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates in its latest earnings report. The stock has an average analyst rating of “Buy” with a consensus price target of $653.81.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,702,934.17. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Wednesday, July 1st, Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of Mastercard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $2,534,700.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA traded up $16.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $539.00. 3,888,904 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,881,398. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $496.78 and a 200-day moving average of $519.05. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $476.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.14%.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $597.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $653.81.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and Zacks-style screens say Mastercard has a strong track record of earnings beats and appears well positioned to top expectations again in its upcoming quarterly report.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a strategic partnership with VEON to expand accessible and inclusive digital financial services across Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, reinforcing long-term growth opportunities in emerging markets. VEON and Mastercard Join Forces to Accelerate Accessibility of Financial Services
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgraded Mastercard from “overweight” to “strong-buy,” signaling improving analyst confidence in the company’s fundamentals and growth outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Mastercard with Visa and commentary on payments/stablecoin trends is broadly favorable for the sector, but it does not point to a direct near-term catalyst specific to Mastercard.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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