Ensemble Capital Management, an investment management company, released its third quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. During the quarter, the strategy declined by 5.68% compared to the S&P 500’s 3.27% decline. The underperformance of the fund was driven by large declines in two holdings that have recently elected activist shareholders to their boards. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Ensemble Capital Management highlighted stocks like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Purchase, New York, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a payment technology company. On October 31, 2023, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) stock closed at $376.35 per share. One-month return of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) was -4.42%, and its shares gained 17.68% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has a market capitalization of $352.932 billion.
Ensemble Capital Management made the following comment about Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a company that pretty much everyone has heard of. In fact, when we meet with Ensemble’s clients, we occasionally tell them that we’re nearly certain that they are carrying a Mastercard in their wallet or purse as we speak, and if not, they are carrying a Visa. Most people carry both.
People carry Mastercard and Visa because they are accepted nearly everywhere in developed markets. And they are accepted in most emerging economies, at least at locations where higher income people spend money. As a shopper you can show up at a bodega in Peru, a high end hotel in Tokyo, a truck stop in Alabama, or an ice cream cart in Milan, show them a piece of plastic and they’ll let you walk away with goods and services without any worry that they aren’t going to get paid.
Importantly, these companies do not lend any money. If you look at your credit or debit card, you’ll find that it is issued by a bank. If it has the name of a non-bank company on it, such as American Airlines or Apple, these companies have just partnered with a bank to issue the card. In American Airlines case, its Barclays and the Apple credit card is issued by Goldman Sachs. The issuing bank is the one whose checking account a debit card is tied to, and they are the ones lending the money to fund credit card payments…” (Click here to read the full text)
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Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is in 7th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 139 hedge fund portfolios held Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) at the end of second quarter which was 138 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in another article and shared best Warren Buffett stock picks for beginners. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
