In this article, we discuss 5 best stocks to buy now according to Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management. If you want to read our detailed analysis of Gayner’s history, investment philosophy, and hedge fund performance, go directly to 10 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management.
5. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Markel Gayner Asset Management’s Stake Value: $322,956,000
Markel Gayner Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 3.84%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 279
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) operates as an e-commerce retailer in North America and worldwide, offering consumer products and subscriptions. The number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey having stakes in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) grew to 279 in Q4, from 242 in the preceding quarter. These funds hold a consolidated stake worth about $49.16 billion.
Truist analyst Youssef Squali cut his price objective on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) from $4,000 to $3,500 on April 29 but maintained his Buy rating. According to the analyst, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) will have a difficult second quarter as ecommerce demand grows and cost concerns emerge, but the company’s prospects will improve after that.
Markel Gayner Asset Management began buying Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares in the third quarter of 2013. In the first quarter of 2022, the hedge fund purchased an additional 550 shares, increasing its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by about 1%. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is a prominent stakeholder of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), with a position worth $7.70 billion.
In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Farrer Wealth Advisors mentioned Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Here is what the fund said:
“Amazon: We had a medium-sized position in Amazon which we exited after the company released its earnings. We thought earnings on aggregate were just fine and were especially impressed to see AWS (Amazon Web Services) start to reaccelerate its growth, up nearly 40% yoy. However, looking beneath the hood a little bit, we noticed a significant slowdown in the 1P and 3P ecommerce businesses that enjoyed a nice covid-bump in previous quarters. The international business also saw negative yoy growth as the covid bump deflated and competition heat up in markets such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and India. None of these issues individually were a huge cause for concern, but they did force us to lower our internal projections. Given this, we felt the internal rate of return (“IRR”) baked into the price post-earnings was not particularly attractive given other opportunities available, and so, we exited the position. None of this is to say that Amazon is in any trouble, and we believe current investors will do just fine over time. We remain big fans of the companies and think Prime and AWS may be some of the best businesses ever created, so we reserve the right to buy back the position at cheaper valuations (or at a higher potential IRR).”
