Undoubtedly one of the best investors ever, Warren Buffett is followed by everybody in the financial world and his statements are carefully analyzed. There are many reasons for that, but the main one is that Warren Buffett gets his stock picks right (almost) all the time. And he is not the only one. The likes of Carl Icahn, George Soros and David Tepper are also part of this group. Being successful in the investment world invariably leads to high personal net worth, so it’s no wonder all of the above-mentioned fund managers are billionaires. This is why Insider Monkey pays close attention to what billionaire fund managers do: their high net worth is an indicator of their proficiency in the market. In this article we’ll take a look at 6 stocks Warren Buffett and billionaire fund managers are betting big on.
First up is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The tech giant has registered a boost in popularity among billionaire fund managers, with 17 of them invested in the stock at the end of the 2017 third quarter, up from 14 a quarter earlier. Warren Buffett seems to think there is still growth potential here, having increased Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in the tech giant by 3% to approximately 134 million shares. David E. Shaw’s fund, D E Shaw, holds the second largest position among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, having reported in its latest 13F filing a fresh bet that amounted to 8.02 million shares. Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital also has Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) among its top positions, having reported ownership of roughly 2.5 million shares at the end of the third quarter.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has updated its stance on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) today, having reiterated its Buy rating and increased its price target from $180 per share to $220 per share, which represents a 25% premium over Tuesday’s closing price. In a note to clients, analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote: “We remain bullish on potential for cash repatriation, lower tax rates, and the potential for positive estimate revisions heading into 2019.” He estimates that Apple could repatriate some $236 billion from overseas given the new 15.5 percent tax rate, which could potentially be used for buybacks, dividends or acquisitions.
At the end of the 2017 third quarter, Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway held 8.49 million shares of Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), down by 11% from the previous quarter. Although Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital has decreased its stake in Charter Communications by 16%, this is still the fund’s third largest equity positions, amounting to more than 3.66 million shares. Chase Coleman is also keeping an eye on this stock, with his fund, Tiger Global, holding 990,710 shares according to its latest regulatory filings. Overall, 18 billionaire fund managers had Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) in their equity portfolios at the end of the third quarter, up from 17 a quarter before.
Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is among the latest media companies to focus on original content. The company has recruited TV veteran Katherine Pope as head of original programming initiatives. Charter looks to capitalize on growing demand for internet service, as video service subscriptions continue to fall. Nevertheless, it still has the second-largest cable system in the US with 17 million video subscribers.
