Warren Buffett's heir apparent bought nearly $25 million of Berkshire stock

Published Fri, Mar 24 202311:34 AM EDTUpdated Tue, Mar 28 20239:33 AM EDT

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

The biggest stock purchase by a corporate insider last week came from the man hand-chosen to one day serve as Warren Buffett's successor, according to securities filings and VerityData. Berkshire Hathaway vice president Gregory Abel bought nearly $25 million worth of Berkshire's class A stock last week, filings show. That's the original class of Berkshire that now trades at more than $400,000 a share. Abel has been designated as the successor to the 92-year-old Buffett at the investment conglomerate. He previously bought $68 million worth of Berkshire stock in September. Berkshire's class A shares, and the "Baby Berkshire" class B shares, both have dropped about 3.4% this year, underperforming the S & P 500. BRK.A 1D mountain Berkshire Hathaway's stock has dipped in 2023. The Omaha-based parent of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and Geico insurance has been building up its stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter, as the oil stock has dropped about 7%. Insider buying is a key metric tracked by many professional investors. The thinking goes that a company's management team and directors know the company best, and their purchases of stock can be a signal of confidence. Here's a look at the five biggest insider purchase of the past week, according to VerityData. 1. Berkshire Hathaway vice chair Greg Abel bought $24.6 million worth of Berkshire's class A stock on March 17. 2. Capri Holdings CEO John Idol bought nearly $10 million worth of stock on March 16. 3. Centene CEO Sarah London purchased $1.9 million worth of stock on March 17. 4. Dun & Bradstreet Holdings CEO Anthony Jabbour bought more than $1.2 million worth of stock on March 20. 5. Walmart director Randall Stephenson bought $1 million worth of stock on March 15. Stephenson is the former CEO of AT & T. This week's top purchases come from a wide variety of industries. In apparel, Idol's purchase of Capri shares is a reversal from a November 2021 sale of the stock, and brings his total stake in the company to 2.3 million shares, according to Verity. Capri's stock has slid 24% so far this year. CPRI YTD mountain Shares of Capri Holdings have been under pressure in 2023. In health care, London's purchase at Centene is the largest buy on record for the company in dollar terms, according to Verity. London was also awarded more than 200,000 shares of the stock earlier this month. Meanwhile, Dun & Bradstreet's Jabbour has been a consistent buyer of the business services company's stock since its IPO in 2020. However, the stock has struggled to find its footing and is down nearly 50% from its IPO price, according to Verity. Stephenson's purchase at Walmart comes at a time when the country's biggest retailer is scaling some of its growth initiatives. Arkansas-based Walmart on Thursday said it's laying off hundreds of workers at five fulfillment centers across the nation.