Warren Buffett bought about $100 million more of these tracking stocks

By Tomi Kilgore

Buffett's buying in recent weeks hasn't helped Liberty SiriusXM shares, which are falling to 4-month lows

Shares that track Liberty Sirius XM's stock fell further Tuesday, even after Warren Buffett's investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway Inc. disclosed that it boosted its stake by nearly $100 million.

Buffett has now spent roughly $465.4 million to bulk up his stake Liberty Sirius XM Series C (LSXMK) and Series A (LSXMA) shares. He now owns about 30% of Liberty SiriusXM's outstanding shares.

The Series C shares shed 1.5% in morning trading and the Series A shares slid 1.4%. Both stocks have fallen more than 11% in April and were on track to close at four-month lows.

The stocks track the shares of the subscription-based satellite-radio service Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI), as Liberty SiriusXM's business is that it owns a controlling stake in Sirius XM. The tracking stocks are seen as being valued at a discount to SiriusXM.

Meanwhile, Sirius XM's slipped 0.2%, and was headed for the lowest close since February 2016 as it has tumbled 13% in April.

In Form 4 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (BRK.A) said it spent $30.69 million to buy 1.12 million Liberty SiriusXM Series A shares, at a weighted average price of $27.3325.

The company also paid $66.42 million to buy 2.42 million Series C shares, at a price of roughly $27.405.

In total, he spent $97.11 million.

Berkshire now owns 33.88 million Series A shares and 67.91 million Series C shares.

The Series A shares have voting rights, while the Series C shares don't. There are also Series B shares, that have 10 votes per share.

Year to date, the Series A shares have shed 8.5% through Monday and the Series C shares have lost 8.8%. In comparison, Sirius XM's stock has tumbled 38.3% this year, Berkshire's Class B shares have rallied 15.7% and the S&P 500 index SPX has advanced 8.4%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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04-09-24 1107ET

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