Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 878 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 440.2% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,069,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 829 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $147,000. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,550 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MA. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $502.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $547.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $524.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $497.91. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Mastercard Company 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.