Warren Buffett’s Picks: 5 Stocks to Watch

1. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57     

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) represents close to 3% of the Berkshire portfolio. The fund invested in the company in 2014 but sold that stake in 2016. In the third quarter of 2020, it purchased another stake in the firm worth $3.4 billion. It has since added to that position handsomely and the stake is now worth $8.5 billion. 

At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 57 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $10.3 billion in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), down from 63 in the previous quarter worth $10.9 billion.

In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Miller/Howard Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“We sold Verizon (VZ) based on concerns over how much they might spend in ongoing spectrum auctions. Management may legitimately view spending billions of dollars to expand their spectrum holdings as necessary, but we believe the payoff will be slow and will make it challenging to grow the dividend at a good pace.”

You can also take a peek at 10 High-Yield Dividend Stocks with Payout Ratio Less than 55% and 10 Stocks to Buy Today According to British Billionaire David Harding.

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