Polymer Capital Management HK LTD Takes $211,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 62.5% during 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, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 7.7 %

NYSE:MA opened at $489.94 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $550.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $528.50. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $582.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a PEG 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

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.