Insider Selling: Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Insider Sells $108,000.00 in Stock

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) insider Sandra Arkell sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.2%

MA stock traded down $11.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $519.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,717,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,867,529. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $499.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $518.14. The company has a market capitalization of $459.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $561.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $653.78.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard expanded its Click to Pay partnership with stc pay Bahrain, which should support faster and more secure online checkout adoption through tokenization and biometric authentication. Will Mastercard’s Click to Pay Gain Traction With stc pay?
• Positive Sentiment: The new partnership adds another use case for Mastercard’s digital payments infrastructure, reinforcing its push beyond traditional cards into multi-rail payments and security-focused services. Mastercard Beyond Cards: Is It Winning the Multi-Rail Game?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive overall: Robert W. Baird raised its price target on Mastercard and reiterated an outperform rating, while TD Cowen still maintained a buy rating even after trimming its target slightly. Read More
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard also got attention for joining the Open USD stablecoin coalition and for recent buyback authorization and partnership activity, but these headlines are more incremental than immediate catalysts. Mastercard (MA) Joins Open USD Stablecoin, Is The Stock Still Cheap?
• Negative Sentiment: The main offsetting pressure is the broader market focus on valuation, with one analyst reducing Mastercard’s price target, which can temper enthusiasm after the stock’s recent run-up. Mastercard price target lowered by TD Cowen

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.