Sound Income Strategies LLC Has $334,000 Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 635 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $533.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.49. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $489.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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