It is a widely known investing axiom that insiders sell their
companies' stocks for any number of reasons, but they buy for
only one reason - they think the stocks are going to go up.
Because
Warren Buffett
's stock-picking abilities helped make him one of the world's
wealthiest men, checking into his portfolio for companies with
heavy insider buying can be a good place to start research on
worthwhile stocks.
The stocks in Buffett's portfolio with most active insider buying
are: The Coca-Cola Company (
KO
), Gannett Co. Inc. (
GCI
), General Electric Company (
GE
) and The Washington Post Company (
WPO
).
Coca-Cola Company (
KO
)
Warren Buffett
owned 200 million shares of Coca-Cola at the end of the first
quarter, making it almost 20% of his portfolio. He has never sold
a share of the company.
Coke had three insider buys in the second quarter: Three
directors bought shares. The largest purchase was of more than
$20.3 million worth of shares by Director Barry Diller in April.
As Diller's purchase price averaged about $77 per share,
investors can buy the stock cheaper at its Tuesday price of
$75.25 per share after a 0.67% increase for the day.
Six insiders also sold shares of the company in the second
quarter.
Two days before Diller and another director bought shares, Coke
announced that it was seeking approval for a 2-for-1 stock split.
Coke's chairman was pushing for the split, the 11
th
in its 92-year history and its first in the last 16 years.
Shareholders will vote on the split July 10.
"Our recommended two-for-one stock split reflects the Board of
Directors' continued confidence in the long-term growth and
financial performance of our Company," said Muhtar Kent, chairman
and CEO of TheCoca-Cola Company. "Our system's 2020 Vision to
double our revenues over this decade provides a clear roadmap for
creating value for our consumers, customers, bottling partners
and shareowners. A stock split reflects our desire to share value
with an ever-growing number of people and organizations around
the world."
Coke also announced in the first quarter its 50
th
consecutive annual dividend increase, giving shareholders an 8.5
percent raise from 47 to 51 cents per share per quarter.
Gannett Co. Inc. (
GCI
)
Buffett owns 1,740,231 shares of Gannett Co. Inc. as of March 31,
2012, making it a mere 0.035% of his portfolio.
It tied with General Electric Co. (
GE
) for the second-most insider buys in his portfolio, with one
director making two purchases of 20,000 shares in the second
quarter. Gannett trades for $14.04 Tuesday after a 6.3% jump.
Multiple newspaper companies' stocks advanced on Tuesday after
News Corp. announced the potential spin-off of its publishing
entities.
In its first quarter results released April 16, Gannett announced
earnings per share of $0.28 compared to $0.37 per share in the
prior-year quarter. Net operating revenues were down 2.6% over
the prior year in publishing advertising and publishing
circulation, but increased in its digital and broadcasting
segments.
Gannett's focus on establishing digital content and advertising
platforms that will generate growth was evidenced in a 13 percent
increase of digital revenue growth in its Publishing segment.
Regarding future plans, the company is expecting 2% to 4% annual
revenue growth and greater earnings growth by 2015, and plans to
return more than $1.3 billion to shareholders by 2015.
"In addition, our new all-access subscription model has been
rolled out in 38 markets and is progressing as anticipated,"
Gannett's president and CEO Gracia Martore said at a presentation
to media and entertainment analysts in New York on Thursday. "New
ventures like Digital Marketing Services and the USA TODAY Sports
Media Group that leverage and extend our brands and assets are
gaining traction and delivering results. We are confident in our
strategy and our ability to achieve sustainable revenue growth
while maintaining a strong balance sheet and generating
increasing shareholder value."
The company also increased its revenue 150 percent to $0.80 per
share annually and purchased approximately 2.4 million shares for
$35.5 million during the quarter.
General Electric Company (
GE
)
Buffett owns 7,777,900 shares of General Electric Company (
GE
), which is 0.21% of his portfolio. Two insiders bought shares of
the company in the last three months. One was a director who
purchased 30,000 shares for about $19.50 per share, and the
second was a director who bought 4,000 shares at about $19.75 per
share, both neat the end of April. The stock is slightly higher
on Tuesday at $19.80 per share after a 1.43% increase for the
day.
GE is a conglomerate of industrial products and financial
services businesses and owns about 50% of NBC Universal. In the
first quarter, GE announced its eighth consecutive quarter of
operating earnings growth, and GAAP earnings from continuing
operations of $3.3 billion, down 4% from the prior-year quarter.
Revenues also declined 8% due largely to sales of NBCU and
Garanti in the prior-year quarter.
GE also expects double-digit earnings growth in 2012 in its
Industrial businesses and GE Capital and is hoping the global
industrial business will capitalize on global growth. The company
derives approximately 50% of its revenue from overseas.
GE Capital's first quarter earnings were $1.8 billion, up 27%
excluding the sale of Garanti. The division benefited from the
first profit in Real Estate since the third quarter of 2008. GE
will also begin receiving dividend payments from GE Capital for
the first time since the financial crisis. The dividend will
amount to 30% of GE Capital's total 2012 earnings, it reported in
May.
Earlier in June, The Wall Street Journal reported that GE is
considering selling chunks of GE Capital as many investors feel
the conglomerate is getting too large.
The Washington Post Company (
WPO
)
Buffett owns 1,727,765 shares of the Washington Post Company (
WPO
) at the end of the first quarter, which is about 0.86% of his
portfolio. He
bought the shares in mid-1973
and is also the largest shareholder. In January, the Washington
Post announced Buffett would not seek re-election to the board
after his term expired in May. He had been on the board for
nearly 40 years.
The last insider buy at the Washington Post occurred on Dec. 30,
2011. It was of 76 shares at an average price of $392 per share.
The stock has since gotten far cheaper, trading for $363.55 on
Tuesday, after going up 0.18% for the day.
In the first quarter results, announced in May 2012, the company
reported earnings of $31 million, increased to $15.2 million in
the prior-year quarter. Revenue was $972 million, down from $1.04
billion in the prior-year quarter. The company's revenues
increased in its television broadcasting division, were flat in
its cable television division, and down in both its education and
newspaper publishing divisions.
Though
Buffett has been purchasing newspapers of
late
, he noted in a CNBC interview that he disliked the business
model of not charging for their product, which the Washington
Post has:
"Newspapers have been giving away their product at the same time
they're selling it, and that is not a great business model. So
when they put papers up on the internet and you get it free,
you're competing with yourself... And you're seeing throughout
the industry a reaction to that problem and an answer to it. You
shouldn't be giving away a product that you're trying to sell,"
he said.
Other online papers, such as News Corporation (
NWSA
), The New York Times (
NYT
) and The Wall Street Journal, already charge for content.
See Warren Buffett's stock portfolio here. Also check out the
Undervalued Stocks, Top Growth Companies and High Yield stocks of
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