Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $2.60 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.6 %

Mastercard stock opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $502.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $524.77 and its 200-day moving average is $497.91. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $547.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

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.