Top 5 Stocks George Soros and Warren Buffett Both Own

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Aug 28, 2012
George Soros and Warren Buffett are two of the world’s most successful investors. While Buffett holds stocks for the long term, Soros is more likely to trade in and out of positions with greater frequency.

Both of their viewpoints overlap on eight stocks. The largest positions they hold in common are: Walmart (WMT, Financial), Kraft (KFT, Financial), DirecTV (DTV, Financial), DaVita (DVA, Financial) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Financial).

Walmart (WMT)

Warren Buffett owns 46,708,142 shares of WMT, valued as $3.3 billion as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 4.4% of his equity portfolio. George Soros owns 4,831,800 shares of WMT, valued as $337 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 4.9% of his equity portfolio.

Walmart Stores Inc. is the world's largest retailer. Walmart Inc. has a market cap of $243.99 billion; its shares were traded at around $72.59 with a P/E ratio of 15.4 and P/S ratio of 0.6. The dividend yield of Walmart stocks is 2.2%. Walmart Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 11.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Walmart the business predictability rank of 5-star.

Walmart in its second quarter reported earnings per share increased 10.1% from the previous quarter, and revenue increased 6.4%, with its fourth consecutive quarter of positive comp sales. Net sales at Walmart International grew 6.4%. The company raised and narrowed its full-year EPS guidance to a range of $4.83 to $4.93 from its previous range of $4.72 to $4.92.

Kraft (KFT)

Warren Buffett owns 58,826,390 shares of KFT, valued as $2.3 billion as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 3.1% of his equity portfolio. George Soros owns 361,000 shares of KFT, valued as $14 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 0.2% of his equity portfolio.

Kraft Foods Inc. is the largest branded food and beverage company headquartered in the U.S. Kraft Foods Inc. has a market cap of $74.3 billion; its shares were traded at around $41.9 with a P/E ratio of 17.5 and P/S ratio of 1.4. The dividend yield of Kraft Foods Inc. stocks is 2.8%. Kraft Foods Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 0.4% over the past 10 years.

On August 14, Kraft’s board approved the spin-off of its North American grocery business and declared a pro-rata distribution of shares of its holding company, Kraft Foods Group Inc., to Kraft Foods Inc. common stock shareholders. The spin-off will be complete on October 1. On that date, shareholders of Kraft Foods Inc. will receive one share of Kraft Foods Group common stock for every three shares of Kraft Foods Inc. common stock they hold.

Buffett sold almost 20 million shares of his Kraft stake in the second quarter, but said on Bloomberg in July that he will wait to see what each new company sells for, and will need more information to decide which he would invest in.

DirecTV (DTV)

Warren Buffett owns 28,420,700 shares of DTV, valued as $1.4 billion as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 1.9% of his equity portfolio. George Soros owns 450,453 shares of DTV, valued as $22 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 0.32% of his equity portfolio.

DirecTV is a provider of digital multichannel television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. DirecTV has a market cap of $34.47 billion; its shares were traded at around $52.55 with a P/E ratio of 13.6 and P/S ratio of 1.3. DirecTV had an annual average earnings growth of 33.4% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated DirecTV the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.

In the second quarter, DirecTV reported a 9% revenue increase due largely to subscriber growth in DirecTV Latin America and DirecTV U.S. over the last year. The company’s net income declined 1%, primarily due to higher operating profit and partially offset by a $43 million pre-tax, non-cash loss due to the revaluation of U.S. dollar-denominated Brazilian liabilities, and a $64 million charges related to the early retirement of debt, and several other charges.

DirecTV’s growth is particularly strong in Latin America, where revenues increased 20% since the last year due to high subscriber growth. Net additions increased 37% to a record 645,000.

DaVita (DVA)

Warren Buffett owns 9,300,000 shares of DVA, valued as $913 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 1.2% of his equity portfolio. George Soros owns 123,000 shares of DVA, valued as $12 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 0.17% of his equity portfolio.

DaVita Inc. is one of the largest providers of high-quality dialysis and related services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease. DaVita Inc. has a market cap of $9.12 billion; its shares were traded at around $97.19 with a P/E ratio of 16.2 and P/S ratio of 1.3. DaVita Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 17.8% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated DaVita Inc. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.

In the second quarter, DaVita’s net income declined to $95.3 million from $100 million the previous year. Operating revenues increased to $1.8 billion from $1.6 billion the previous year. The company raised its operating income guidance for 2012 to be in the range of $1.27 billion to $1.33 billion, from its previous guidance of $1.23 billion to $1.31 billion. DaVita began expanding internationally in 2011 and opened four new centers outside the U.S. in the second quarter, the same number as the previous quarter.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Warren Buffett owns 10,333,128 shares of JNJ, valued as $698 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 0.94% of his equity portfolio. George Soros owns 155,000 shares of JNJ, valued as $10 million as of June 30, 2012, which accounts for 0.15% of his equity portfolio.

Buffett liquidated over 60% of his Johnson & Johnson holding in the second quarter. He said in February that Johnson & Johnson has "obviously messed up in a lot of ways in the last few years."

Johnson & Johnson is engaged in the manufacture and sale of a broad range of products in the health care field in many countries of the world. Johnson & Johnson has a market cap of $185.66 billion; its shares were traded at around $67.56 with a P/E ratio of 13.4 and P/S ratio of 2.9. The dividend yield of Johnson & Johnson stocks is 3.6%. Johnson & Johnson had an annual average earnings growth of 7.2% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Johnson & Johnson the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.

In the second quarter, Johnson & Johnson’s sales declined 0.7% to $16.5 from the previous year. Domestic sales decreased 1.2% and international sales decreased 0.4%.

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