Souders Financial Advisors Purchases Shares of 809 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Souders Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 809 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 39.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 68.8% in the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $200,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Mastercard stock opened at $558.81 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $544.58 and a 200-day moving average of $519.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $509.47 billion, a PE ratio of 40.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.