Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by First Interstate Bank

First Interstate Bank trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $3,049,000. Allen Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 368,253 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $157,064,000 after acquiring an additional 5,714 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,187 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,610,000 after purchasing an additional 5,265 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $459.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,787,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,421,027. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $471.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $432.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $428.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.95, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,728 shares of company stock worth $19,479,753. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $485.91.

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.