Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) CEO Sells $8,678,774.00 in Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded up $8.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $557.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,880,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,166. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $549.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $526.06. The stock has a market cap of $508.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,540,000. Hardy Reed LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,992 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. BNP Paribas raised its position in Mastercard by 16.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,538 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 36.2% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.