Warren Buffett is Selling These 5 Stocks

3. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 146

Percentage Decline in Stake: 7%

Even though Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has underperformed in the past year, the payment processing network company is still one of the most popular card companies globally. The New York-based card company has been aggressively expanding into the cryptocurrency market. In October, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) closed its acquisition of blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace. 

Between the periods of June and September, Warren Buffett’s fund reduced its exposure to Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7%, bringing its total holdings down to 4.28 million. This is a mere adjustment to the stake and does not represent a major sell-off.

With a total stake of $17.6 billion, 146 hedge funds owned shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) at the end of the third quarter of 2021. Virginia-based asset management firm Akre Capital Management is the largest shareholder of the company holding 5.8 million shares worth $2 billion.

In its Q3 2021 investor letter, L1 Capital mentioned Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) and discussed its stance on the firm. Here is what the fund said:

“Mastercard returned to top 10. We have held Mastercard since the inception of the Fund. Over the 6 weeks to 30 September 2021, Mastercard’s share price retreated 10% and we took advantage of what we believe will be a short-term pullback in the share price to add to our investment. Recent weakness in Mastercard’s share price is most likely due to concerns about disintermediation and other pressures caused by growth in ‘Buy now, Pay later’ and other new payment offerings, as well a general market rotation away from higher growth companies in favor of more cyclical businesses.”