Michael Miebach Sells 16,628 Shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.68, for a total transaction of $9,439,383.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 115,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,806,033.28. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Michael Miebach also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of Mastercard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total transaction of $9,644,240.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $571.26. 3,135,443 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,761,668. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $516.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $514.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $504.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.71. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.72 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.14%.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $380,548,000 after acquiring an additional 178,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $431,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $659.00.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BVNK acquisition completed: Mastercard finalized its purchase of stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for up to $1.8 billion. The deal gives Mastercard technology to connect fiat and digital currencies, support stablecoin settlement and offer banks and businesses additional payment rails. This could create a long-term growth opportunity, though the financial contribution is likely to build gradually. Mastercard completes BVNK acquisition to boost stablecoin infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded Fiserv partnership: Mastercard and Fiserv are combining Fiserv’s Commerce Hub with Mastercard’s merchant services to help large businesses improve payment performance across channels and international markets. The agreement could increase Mastercard’s enterprise acceptance and services revenue. Fiserv and Mastercard Deepen Global Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Higher analyst targets: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Mastercard price target to $695 from $650 and maintained an Overweight rating. Other recent targets were raised to $680 and $685, reinforcing expectations for further upside based on Mastercard’s earnings growth and strategic initiatives. Cantor Fitzgerald target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Premium card and international expansion: Mastercard, Citi and American Airlines launched an upgraded AAdvantage Executive World Legend card with enhanced lounge access, rewards and travel benefits. Mastercard also announced six senior Asia-Pacific appointments and expanded stablecoin settlement support in Bahrain, supporting its premium-card and international growth strategies. Mastercard launches richer Citi AAdvantage card
• Neutral Sentiment: Execution and regulatory considerations: BVNK broadens Mastercard’s exposure to digital assets, but the acquisition requires substantial execution and remains subject to evolving stablecoin regulation, adoption rates and competition. Recent weakness in Circle shares also highlights investor uncertainty surrounding the stablecoin market. Why Circle Internet Stock Is Slumping

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.