Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 470 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 9.5% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 470 shares, bringing their total holdings to 5,402 shares worth approximately $2.96 million.
• Mastercard reported earnings of $4.15 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $8.13 billion, reflecting a 16.8% increase year-over-year.
• Insiders, including Director Julius Genachowski, have sold shares recently, with a total of 38,753 shares sold over the last 90 days, indicating a 3.90% decrease in their positions.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,402 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 9,651 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,290,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 844 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 18,382 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,075,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 16,940 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $615.33.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,630,844.40. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded down $6.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $559.73. The company had a trading volume of 3,316,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,427,760. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $439.59 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $510.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $564.58 and a 200 day moving average of $551.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

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.