Polymer Capital Management US LLC Buys New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 483.3% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $633.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.07.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $478.15 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $546.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $527.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $435.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.