My Legacy Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

My Legacy Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MA. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $525.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $427.45 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $524.28 and a 200 day moving average of $494.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.