This article presents an overview of the 5 Stocks Warren Buffett and Insiders Are Crazy About. For a detailed overview of such stocks, read our article, 10 Stocks Warren Buffett and Insiders Are Crazy About.
5. Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW)
Warren Buffett’s Stake: $1,218,949,824
Mark D. McLaughlin on May 31, 2023, bought 1,831 shares of Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) at $163.80 per share. At the time the stock was trading at around $165.36, while as of March 6 the stock price was $167.75, showing a 1.44% increase in share price.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns a $1.3 billion stake in Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) as of the end of 2023. The Oracle of Omaha first bought a stake in Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) back in the third quarter of 2020 and since then he has left the stake almost untouched.
ClearBridge Multi Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“While the ClearBridge Multi Cap Growth Strategy has limited mega cap exposure, which has been a recent headwind to relative performance, we own several companies that stand to benefit from the explosive growth in generative AI. These holdings play key roles in building out the necessary infrastructure and helping customers leverage capabilities enabled by this emerging technology.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), a cloud-based data platform company, is positioned well to help enterprises better leverage their own data to get the most out of AI models. Though it is still early days in terms of adoption, Snowflake saw workloads for data science, machine learning, and AI use cases grow more than 90% year-over-year in its most recent quarter.”
4. Liberty Media Corp Series C (NASDAQ:LSXMK)
Warren Buffett’s Stake: $1,243,534,615
John C. Malone, who is the Chairman of Liberty Media Corp Series C’s (NASDAQ:LSXMK) board and also the largest voting shareholder, bought 5,219 shares of Liberty Media Corp Series C (NASDAQ:LSXMK) on August 7, 2023 at $36.77 per share. On that day the stock was trading at around $23.46 while today the stock price stands at $29.41. The stock gained about 25% in this period.
Insider Monkey’s database of hedge funds and their holdings shows that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had a $1.24 billion stake in Liberty Media Corp Series C (NASDAQ:LSXMK) as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023.
Baron Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding The Liberty SiriusXM Group (NASDAQ:LSXMK) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“We exited positions in E2open Parent Holdings, Inc. and The Liberty SiriusXM Group (NASDAQ:LSXMK) this quarter. Liberty SiriusXM was a longtime successful holding. The stock reacted favorably to their definitive agreement for the tracking stock to be combined with SiriusXM in creating a new public company. This was the catalyst we had been anticipating, and the implied valuation for the combination felt fair to us so we sold out because future growth is suspect.”
3. Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR)
Warren Buffett’s Stake: $1,488,232,788
Chris Winfrey, the President and CEO of Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR), snapped up 5,050 shares of the telecom company on February 6 at $295.29 per share. As of March 6 the stock was trading at around $280.85. That means since Winfrey bought Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR) shares the stock has gained about 5.14%.
As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, Warren Buffett owns a $1.5 billion stake in Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR).
Here is what Weitz Conservative Allocation Fund has to say about Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“We swapped the Fund’s Liberty Broadband Corporation (NASDAQ:LBRDK) shares back to Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) (Charter is by far Liberty Broadband’s largest asset), and the combined position was the most notable quarterly contributor. Investor sentiment around broadband’s competitive position became less negative, and the stocks rebounded nicely from what we considered oversold levels.”
2. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)
Warren Buffett’s Stake: $1,700,345,238
Richard K. Davis is a board member at Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA). He bought 1,000 shares of the payments giant on November 9, 2023, at $390.96 per share. On November 9 last year the stock was trading at $387.96. As of March 6 the stock is trading at around $467.52. This shows the stock gained about 20% during this period.
Warren Buffett has been holding stakes in Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) since the first quarter of 2011. As of the end of 2023 Berkshire had a $1.7 billion stake in Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA).
Ensemble Capital Management stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) (7.21% weight in the Fund): Payment companies are data companies. As we discussed last quarter in our write up of Mastercard, merchants can generate significant value from analyzing payment data to better understand their customers. Mastercard has long built AI-based products to enhance payment security and provide merchants with rich data analytics. In December, they rolled out Muse, a new online shopping companion that merchants who utilize certain Mastercard services can install on their own websites.
Muse seeks to replicate the instore experience of working with a salesclerk by allowing the customer to use natural language to browse products. Online shopping already works well if you know exactly what you are looking for, but Muse is striving to help customers find things to buy even when they aren’t sure what they are looking for.
Mastercard (7.21% weight in the Fund): In late October, Mastercard reported earnings that investors interpreted as pointing to a near term slowdown in payment growth. The stock fell 5.6% on the day. By the end of the next week, the stock had recovered its losses and went on to reach a new all time high on the last day of the year. But the 7.9% gain on the quarter slightly trailed the S&P 500.”
1. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)
Warren Buffett’s Stake: $34,776,127,042
Thomas Woods, a board member at Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), bought 25,000 shares of the bank on November 1, 2023, at $26.25 per share. At that time Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) stock was trading at $26.40, while on March 6 the stock price was $35.39. This shows a gain of about 34%.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire owns a $34 billion stake in Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023.
Diamond Hill Large Cap Strategy stated the following regarding Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Among our top individual contributors in Q4 were KKR and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC). Banking and financial services company Bank of America rallied alongside large-cap banks broadly in Q4 as the market focused less on interest-rate risks amid the Fed’s announcement it was likely done raising interest rates. Banks also likely generally benefited from a relief rally following three-plus quarters of negative sentiment to start the year. Industry trends aside, however, we maintain our conviction in Bank of America’s position given its diversified, low-cost deposit base, which we believe remains less susceptible to flight.”
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