Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) traded down 0.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $517.00 and last traded at $519.69. 343,993 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,442,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $521.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $476.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $505.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.48.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,370 shares of company stock worth $46,797,168 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.6% in the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 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.