Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 30,890 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,266,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $525.22. 2,373,992 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,646,914. The stock's 50 day moving average is $524.27 and its 200 day moving average is $493.64. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $427.45 and a 12-month high of $537.70. The company has a market cap of $482.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $566.63.

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.