5 Long-Term Stocks to Buy During Recessions

3. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 137 

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services. On July 28, the company posted earnings for the second quarter of 2022, reporting earnings per share of $2.56, beating market estimates by $0.20. The revenue over the period was $5.5 billion, up over 10% compared to the revenue over the same period last year and beating analyst estimates by $240 million. The firm said the gross dollar volume growth was 14% over the time. 

On September 2, Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Keane maintained a Buy rating on Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) stock with a price target of $440, noting that despite the recent downturn in crypto, the underlying block chain technology is here to stay. 

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Middleburg, Virginia-based investment firm Akre Capital Management is a leading shareholder in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), with 5.9 million shares worth more than $1.8 billion. 

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Baron Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“The Fund’s holdings in the Payments and Information Services themes also contributed to relative performance. Within Payments, lower exposure to this lagging theme and outperformance of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) added the most value. These global payment networks are viewed as safe havens during market downturns but are also benefiting from resilient payment volumes and a sharp rebound in international travel.”