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

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) CEO Michael Miebach sold 16,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 115,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,806,033.28. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 value of $9,644,240.00.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $571.26 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $517.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $514.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $504.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.72. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $561.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $664.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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 expands digital-asset capabilities: Mastercard completed its purchase of stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK, a deal announced at a value of up to $1.8 billion. The acquisition is intended to connect fiat and digital currencies and strengthen Mastercard’s offerings to banks, businesses and other institutions adopting stablecoins. Mastercard completes acquisition of BVNK to advance global stablecoin capabilities
• Positive Sentiment: Fiserv partnership could drive merchant-services growth: Mastercard and Fiserv announced a global partnership combining Fiserv’s Commerce Hub with Mastercard’s merchant services. The collaboration is designed to help enterprise merchants improve payments across channels and markets, potentially increasing Mastercard’s business-to-business and value-added-services opportunities. Fiserv and Mastercard Deepen Global Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases reinforce bullish sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Mastercard price target to $695 from $650 and maintained an “overweight” rating. Other reports also cited price-target increases to $680 and $685, suggesting analysts see additional upside following Mastercard’s strong earnings performance. Mastercard price target raised
• Positive Sentiment: Premium-card refresh supports payment volume and engagement: Mastercard, Citi and American Airlines introduced enhanced benefits for the Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Legend Mastercard, including expanded lounge access, rewards and travel-related perks. The initiative targets frequent premium travelers and could support spending activity on Mastercard’s network. Mastercard launches richer Citi AAdvantage Executive World Legend Card
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard announced six senior appointments across Asia Pacific and is reorganizing regional leadership. The moves may improve execution but have no immediate financial impact. Mastercard makes senior appointments across Asia Pacific
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Michael Miebach sold a combined 33,256 shares for approximately $19.1 million, reducing his direct holdings by roughly 26%. Because both sales occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, they may reflect scheduled diversification rather than a negative view of Mastercard’s outlook, limiting the bearish signal. Mastercard CEO SEC Form 4 filing

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after acquiring an additional 466,514 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after purchasing an additional 349,369 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,256,368,000 after purchasing an additional 759,584 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.