Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Empowered Funds LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,352 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 10Elms LLP purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.54.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6%

Mastercard stock opened at $587.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $573.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $557.69. The company has a market cap of $531.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.62, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

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 value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,481 shares of company stock valued at $32,616,595. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.