Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Empire Financial Management Company LLC

Empire Financial Management Company LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,052 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 481 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,990 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,464,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 2,276 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 18.5% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Mastercard stock opened at $530.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $483.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $535.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $529.34. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $635.00 target price (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie raised their price objective on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $607.96.

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.

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