2 Stocks Warren Buffett and Li Lu Agree On

According to the Aggregated Portfolio of Gurus, a Premium feature of GuruFocus, the two stocks that

Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) and
Li Lu (Trades, Portfolio)’s Himalaya Capital Management agree on are Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Financial).

About

Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)

Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett studied under the legendary Ben Graham at Columbia University during the 1950s. Buffett followers believe that Munger influenced Buffett to switch from “cigar butt” bargain investing to investing in high-quality companies for the long term. Buffett and Munger’s four-criteria investing approach seeks to identify companies with understandable businesses, favorable growth prospects, shareholder-oriented management and attractive valuations.

As of Sept. 30, Berkshire’s $293.45 billion equity portfolio contains 43 stocks with two new holdings. The top three sectors in terms of weight are technology, financial services and consumer defensive, with weights of 44.44%, 32.11% and 12.12%, respectively.

About

Li Lu (Trades, Portfolio)

Like Buffett, Li also attended Columbia University, where he received a B.A., J.D. and MBA. The Chinese-born investor founded Himalaya Capital in 1997.

Li met Munger in 2003 and the two have been friends since. Li’s firm embraces Munger’s idea of establishing long-term positions in the stock of companies that have high economic moat, good growth potential and managed by trustworthy people. Li said that in making his investments, he gives the analogy in which one should only strike baseballs within one’s comfort zone since reaching for inferior baseballs would seriously reduce the chance of success.

As of Sept. 30, Himalaya’s $2.15 billion U.S. equity portfolio contains seven stocks with a turnover ratio of 11% (it should be noted that many of Li’s investments are not U.S.-listed and are thus not reported to the SEC). The top three sectors in terms of weight are technology, financial services and communication services, with weights of 42.92%, 35.83% and 19.71%, respectively.

During the third quarter, Himalaya established a stake in Buffett’s insurance conglomerate, buying 897,749 Class B shares (

BRK.B, Financial). The firm dedicated 11.41% of its equity portfolio to the position.

Shares averaged $280.85 during the third quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.10.

GuruFocus ranks the Omaha, Nebraska-based insurance conglomerate’s profitability 7 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a four-star business predictability rank, a high Piotroski F-score of 8 and profit margins and returns outperforming more than 84% of global competitors.

Apple

Berkshire and Himalaya have a combined weight of 47.78% in Apple Inc. (

AAPL, Financial).

Shares of Apple averaged $147.22 during the third quarter; the stock is significantly overvalued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.33.

GuruFocus ranks the Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics giant’s profitability 9 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a five-star business predictability rank, a high Piotroski F-score of 7 and profit margins and returns outperforming more than 96% of global competitors.

Other gurus with holdings in Apple include

Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio)’s Fisher Investments,
Spiros Segalas (Trades, Portfolio)’ Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund and Pioneer Investments.

Bank of America

Buffett and Himalaya Capital have a combined weight of 39.03% in Bank of America (

BAC, Financial).

Shares of Bank of America averaged $40.31 during the third quarter; the stock is significantly overvalued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.42.

GuruFocus ranks the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank’s financial strength 3 out of 10 on several warning signs, which include cash-to-debt and debt-to-equity ratios underperforming more than 69% of global competitors.

Munger’s Daily Journal Corp. (

DJCO, Financial) also has a holding in Bank of America. The holding has a 43.35% equity portfolio weight.