Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,720,174 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the previous session’s volume of 2,457,223 shares.The stock last traded at $446.61 and had previously closed at $444.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.91.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market cap of $416.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $450.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.59.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total value of $49,863,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,215,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,472,114,797.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, insider Hai Ling sold 2,892 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.00, for a total transaction of $1,330,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,853,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total transaction of $49,863,140.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,215,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,472,114,797.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,540,870. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 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.