Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 181 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,065 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.9% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MA shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $652.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.7%

MA opened at $527.63 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $473.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $566.34 and a 200 day moving average of $569.80.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.