Empirical Finance LLC Has $16.33 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,065 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 181 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.9% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.8% in the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% in the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.7%

Mastercard stock opened at $527.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $566.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $569.80. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. The trade was a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $652.50.

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.