5 Long-Term Stocks to Buy and Hold According to Warren Buffett

2. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 137

Berkshire’s Holding Period: 12 Years

Berkshire Hathaway has owned a Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) stake since the first quarter of 2011. In the second quarter of 2022, the hedge fund held about 4 million shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), worth $1.25 billion, representing 0.41% of the total 13F securities. On July 28, the company reported its Q2 results, posting earnings per share of $2.56 and a revenue of $5.50 billion, topping market estimates by $0.20 and $236.62 million, respectively. 

On August 16, Daiwa analyst Kazuya Nishimura downgraded Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $375, down from $385. With border restrictions largely lifted, he sees lower scope for earnings to outperform market expectations, the analyst told investors. He also sees a “potential dearth of positive catalysts over the near term,” but added that Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s medium to long-term growth prospects are “healthy” and the company is strongly positioned to get returns from investments in the travel sector.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 137 hedge funds reported owning stakes in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) at the end of June, compared to 136 funds in the last quarter. Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management is the leading stakeholder of the company, with 5.86 million shares worth $1.8 billion.

Here is what Mayar Capital has to say about Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“Visa and Mastercard have both been beneficiaries of the move away from cash over the course of the pandemic with the consequence that forward- looking opportunities for further penetration of card payments are lower than a couple of years ago. Moreover, cross-border payments – which were badly impacted by lockdowns – strongly recovered in 2021 and for both businesses are at or near to pre-COVID levels.”