Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys 171 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 12,363 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 14,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,693,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,033,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $544,373,000 after buying an additional 38,606 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $513.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $529.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $502.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost 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 is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

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.