Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Shares Gap Down to $444.70

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $444.70, but opened at $434.61. Mastercard shares last traded at $435.43, with a volume of 481,178 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $531.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.57.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $405.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $449.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.20.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total transaction of $49,863,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,215,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,472,114,797.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.00, for a total value of $136,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,463 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,202. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 $44,472,114,797.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock worth $1,428,540,870. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,399,279,000 after buying an additional 330,872 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after buying an additional 676,452 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,574,347,000 after buying an additional 43,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,595,559,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,665,483 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,989,875,000 after purchasing an additional 107,953 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.