Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,381 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third 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. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management grew its position in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $564.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $518.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $526.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $499.80. 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 $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.