Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading 0.3% Higher

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s share price traded up 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $470.91 and last traded at $469.47. 351,749 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,464,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $468.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $512.09.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $450.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $433.61 billion, a PE ratio of 37.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.28, for a total value of $4,038,043.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,940 shares in the company, valued at $26,362,683.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 5,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.71, for a total value of $2,330,039.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,782,397.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.28, for a total value of $4,038,043.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,362,683.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,733,175 shares of company stock worth $782,773,546 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $4,595,559,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 676,452 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.