Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,480 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,165 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its position in Mastercard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,990 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,464,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 2,276 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 18.5% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

MA stock traded up $4.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $517.46. The company had a trading volume of 3,329,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,621,853. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The company has a market capitalization of $471.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $538.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $528.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. DZ Bank raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Profile

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.