Here’s Why Saturna Capital Disposed its Mastercard Inc. (MA) Stake

Saturna Capital, an investment management firm, published its “Amana Funds” fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. For the fourth quarter of 2021, the Amana Income Fund Investor Shares returned 13.76% and the Institutional Shares returned 13.85%. The Amana Growth Fund sprinted to a strong finish in the fourth quarter, wrapping up an outstanding year by any measure. For the three months ended December 31, 2021, the Amana Growth Fund Investor Shares returned 14.41%, significantly outpacing the 6.91% Morningstar “Large Growth” category return, as well as the 11.03% return of the S&P 500. For the 2021 calendar year, Amana Developing World Fund Investor Shares returned 7.31% versus -2.54% for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Saturna Capital Amana Funds, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in 1966, Mastercard Incorporated is a Harrison, New York-based financial services company with a $309.6 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, Michael Miebach. MA delivered a -12.52% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -17.65%. The stock closed at $314.33 per share on March 08, 2022.

Here is what Saturna Capital Amana Funds has to say about Mastercard Incorporated in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Given the likelihood of rising inflation and interest rates ahead, we anticipate adjustments to the portfolio to reduce exposure to highly valued stocks dependent on low interest rates to support terminal year valuations, while seeking investments in companies more correlated with a return to economic normalcy. We sold our position in Mastercard. Although Mastercard does not charge or collect interest, its association with credit activities was problematic.”

Our calculations show that Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) ranks 7th on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. MA was in 144 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 146 funds in the previous quarter. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) delivered a -8.18% return in the past 3 months.

In February 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on MA in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

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