Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 419,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,021 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $206,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 455 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Guerra Pan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $529.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $485.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $500.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $469.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $393.02 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Barclays increased their target price 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.17.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.