Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,959 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.8% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Mastercard by 46.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after buying an additional 4,685 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $137,081,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,679 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,811,000 after buying an additional 4,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $547.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $520.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $477.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $394.76 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $502.32 and its 200-day moving average is $470.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

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.