Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 934 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,985 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.6% of Empirical Finance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $8.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $570.35. 2,705,394 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,620,135. The company has a market cap of $499.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $601.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $559.88 and a 200 day moving average of $521.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%.The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.14%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,403,600. This trade represents a 8.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 74,623 shares of company stock valued at $42,544,606. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $666.64.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.