Every quarter, the star managers of the US rating publish their latest movements in their portfolio. This article is based on the 13F published each quarter on the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) website. These quarterly reports list the assets under management of investment managers or listed holding companies with control over more than $100 million in assets and which hold so-called “long” US positions. Form 13F thus covers Registered Investment Advisers (RIA), banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, trust companies, pension funds and even mutual funds. This report is published no later than 45 days after the end of the quarter concerned. This form only includes US or foreign positions listed in the US. Here is the analysis of the latest movements in the third quarter of 2024 from legendary investors such as Warren Buffett, Terry Smith, Daniel Loeb, Chuck Akre, David Tepper, Howard Marks, Pat Dorsey, Seth Klarman, Bill Ackman, Mohnish Pabrai and François Rochon.
Let's start with Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) which caused a lot of talk by reducing for the fourth consecutive time its flagship position in Apple by 25% (the Apple value weighs more than 26% of its portfolio). He also reduced his lines in Bank of America, SiriusXM Holdings, Capital One Financial, Now Holdings, Charter Communications. This approach reflects his caution and his distrust of current market valuations, considered too high for his taste. He sold completely Ulta Beauty a few months after its initial purchase in 2024. Thanks to massive stock sales, to the tune of $133 billion this year, Berkshire has raked in substantial profits and maintains a solid gold balance sheet. Two new actions are appearing: Domino’s Pizza et Pool Corporation. Warren Buffett, like a true modern Scrooge, is accumulating mountains of cash in his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, recently reaching the impressive figure of 325 billion dollars.
The adventures of Warren Buffett and his bloated cash flow
Terry Smith (Fundsmith) did not make much movement in its top 10 apart from the 17% reduction in Philip Morris after the good progress of the title. Microsoft is still his biggest line and it works pretty well for him.
Pat Dorsey (Dorsey Asset Management) reduced its entire portfolio (notably Smartsheet et Semrush Holdings) set aside Sprout Social which it strengthened by 14%. The most noticed movement is the opening of a new position in AppLovin (also a flagship position of our Momentum Picks selection for three quarters) for almost 10% of its portfolio.
Daniel Loeb (Third Point) was very active this last quarter with numerous reductions (PG&E Group, Amazon, Danaher, View, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Appleetc). Among the major reinforcements, we find Intercontinental Exchange (+108%), Live Nation (+71%) et CRH (+215%). Many new lines have also been opened: Brookfield Corporation, Flutter Entertainment, LPL Financial Holdings, Carpenter Technology, Tesla, Ansys, CVS Health.
Chuck Akre (Akre Capital Management) seems to have fallen in love with Airbnb which it strengthened by +183% to 2.8% of its US portfolio. It also strengthened Brookfield Corporation like several of his colleagues here present. It reduced two of its historic positions by 20% and 16%: Moody’s et KKR.
David Tepper (Appaloosa Management) still displays iron confidence in its Chinese positions since it has significantly strengthened Pinduoduo (PDD Holdings), et JD.com. He doubled his position on Lyft and bought Vistra Corp, NRG Energy as well as casino operators: Las Vegas Sands et Wynn Resorts. However, he is more cautious on American technology stocks, which he has reduced significantly.
Howard Marks (Oaktree Capital Management) still fascinates me with its majority position on Storm which weighs ¼ of its portfolio (it has reduced by 8%). He initiated new lines on Talk Energy et California Resources.
Seth Klarman (Baupost Group), the spiritual descendant of Warren Buffett, has initiated several new lines, notably Dollar General to 5.6% of its US portfolio. He strengthened Willis Towers Watson (+8%) et Alphabet (+37%) to reach 7% of its American selection as well as Wesco International et Eagle Materials. On the contrary, he reduced CRH et Viasat. Its first position is always Liberty Global.
Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management) has greatly strengthened two majority positions, namely Brookfield Corporation (+377%) et Nike (+435%) which represent 13.5% and 11.2% of its US portfolio respectively. He reduced Hilton Worldwide Holdings (-17%) and initiated a small pose on Seaport Entertainment Group.
Mohnish Pabrai (Pabrai Investments), the highly concentrated Indian manager, added a fifth line to its US portfolio with Danaos Corporation. He significantly reduced (-92%) his position in Arch Resources which now only represents 1.7% of its selection. On the contrary, he quadrupled his line in CONSOL Energy to reach 32.6% of its portfolio as well as Warrior Met Coal (+48%) which weighs 18%.
Francois Rochon (Giverny Capital), an investor in quality companies, favored the status quo by slightly strengthening its top 30 positions except Alphabet et Floor & Decor Holdings which he lightened. He initiated small positions in Intercontinental Exchange, Capital One Financial, Yum China Holdings, Liberty Media et Costco.
