Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $517.65 and last traded at $521.36. 513,606 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,443,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $521.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.