Empirical Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of MA opened at $549.67 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $580.48 and a 200 day moving average of $563.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $496.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $645.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.04.

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.