Pacifica Capital All-In On Warren Buffett, Starbucks

Steve Leonard’s stake in investment bank giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was decreased by 2% during the first quarter, leaving him with 163,927 shares with a value of $30.81 million, representing 19.93% of his public equity portfolio. The New York-based investment bank has returned a solid 11.6% year-to-date and is up by 27.4% during the last year. Goldman Sachs reported in May that it was interested in entering into consumer loans and it seems like the ball is now beginning to roll on that endeavor. Last Monday, it was announced that Goldman Sachs had hired a former credit card executive, who is assumed to be the one that will lead the new market niche. Goldman Sachs will also launch an online lending model that is similar to the model used by LendingClub Corp (NYSE:LC). Crispin Odey‘s Odey Asset Management Group also decreased its stake in the investment bank by 2%, leaving him with 853,507 shares.

The last major holding of Steve Leonard to be discussed here is the 580,374 shares he holds in iconic coffee shop Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), a position Leonard decreased by 5% during the quarter, and having a value of $27.48 million. The Seattle, Washington-based coffee seller has experienced a strong year, with returns of 31.4% year-to-date and 40.7% during the last year. Starbucks, founded in 1971, is now trying to expand its Teavana business in order to get a larger share of the $45 billion tea market. Teavana, which was acquired in 2012, was planned to have 500 stores by this year but operates only 360 at the moment. A part of the new strategy that Starbucks is about to implement is the promotion of the Teavana brand, not only in the Teavana stores but also in its Starbucks stores in order to increase the availability of the tea. John Kim‘s Night Owl Capital Management also decreased its stake by 5% during the first quarter, leaving him with 75,872 shares.

Disclosure: None