Is Mastercard (MA) an Attractive Long-Term Investment?

Polen Capital, an investment management firm, published its “Polen Global Growth Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. During the first quarter of 2022, the Polen Global Growth Composite Portfolio (the “Portfolio) was down -13.30% and -13.54%, gross and net of fees, versus a decline of -5.35% for the MSCI ACWI (the “Index”).  Try to spend some time looking at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022. 

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Polen Global Growth Fund mentioned Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1966, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a Harrison, New York-based multinational financial services corporation with a $356.8 billion market capitalization. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) delivered a 1.31% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 0.19%. The stock closed at $364.02 per share on June 07, 2022.

Here is what Polen Global Growth Fund has to say about Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“We added to both Visa and Mastercard during the final quarters of 2021, based on the belief that both businesses were trading at attractive prices and poised to deliver, double-digit returns over the next three to five years. Cross-border transactions–a highly profitable business segment for both companies–represent roughly 10% of Visa and Mastercard’s volumes and 25% of their gross revenues, so lockdowns have severely impacted this segment due to stifled travel. While it was impossible to know when people would begin traveling again, we accepted this reality with the belief that travel would eventually return. Both companies have commented that as soon as a country or geography reopens, cross-border volumes reignite, amplifying each business’s growth and profitability. We think these near- term headwinds have created an attractive long-term investment opportunity.”

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Our calculations show that Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) ranks 8th on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) was in 136 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2022, compared to 144 funds in the previous quarter. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) delivered a 10.94% return in the past 3 months.

In April 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.