"Tracking Charles Akre's Akre Capital Management Portfolio – Q4 2017 Update"
"Chuck Akre’s portfolio value increased from $6.84B to $7.23B this quarter.Akre Capital Management dropped Monro Inc. during the quarter.The top three positions are American Tower, Moody’s, and MasterCard and they add up to ~37% of the entire portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Akre Capital Management’s 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Akre’s regulatory  filed on 02/14/2018. Please visit our  series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and our  for their moves in Q3 2017.This quarter, Akre’s portfolio value increased ~6% from $6.84B to $7.23B. The number of positions decreased from 25 to 23. The largest five stakes are American Tower, Moody’s Corporation, MasterCard, Markel Corporation, and Visa Inc. and they together account for ~53% of the total portfolio value.AUM is distributed among private funds, separately managed accounts, and the Akre Focus Mutual Fund (AKREX) (AKRIX) (AKRSX). Akre coined the term "compounding machines" to describe the type of businesses he invests in. To learn more about that investing style, check out .New Stakes:None.Stake Disposals:Monro Inc. (MNRO) previously Monro Muffler-Brake: MNRO was a small 1.31% portfolio stake first purchased in H2 2012 at prices between $32 and $39. H2 2014 saw a 3x stake increase at prices between $48 and $58 and it has since been kept relatively steady. The stock is now at $53.10. The position was disposed this quarter at prices between $48 and $59.CSX Corporation (CSX): The minutely small CSX position was disposed this quarter.Stake Increases:American Tower (AMT) & pfd cnvrts: AMT has been in the portfolio for well over sixteen years. It is the largest stake at 13.95% of the portfolio. Recent activity follow: the last five years saw consistent buying every year. The share count has increased over four times from 1.7M shares to 7.1M shares during that period. The buying happened at prices between $65 and $118 and the stock is now at $142. There was a marginal increase this quarter.Moody’s Corporation (MCO): The initial purchase of MCO happened in Q1 & Q2 2012 in the high-30s price-range. Since then, the position size was doubled at higher prices. Recent activity follow: Q4 2016 saw a ~15% increase at prices between $94 and $109 and that was followed with a ~22% increase the following quarter at prices between $95 and $114. It currently trades at $169 and is now the second-largest stake at 11.62% of the portfolio. There was a marginal increase this quarter.Note: Akre’s cost-basis on MCO is ~$39.MasterCard (MA): The large (top three) ~11% MA position was first purchased in 2010 in the low-20s price-range and it currently trades at $176. The stake saw increases every year since but was kept steady in 2016. Q1 2017 saw a ~13% increase at prices between $105 and $113. There was a marginal increase this quarter.Note: Akre’s cost-basis on MA is $22.20.Markel Corporation (MKL): MKL is another top five ~8% portfolio stake that has been in the portfolio for over twenty years. Recent activity follow: H2 2013 and H1 2014 saw a stake doubling at prices between $510 and $655 and since then the position has remained relatively steady. The stock is now at $1122. There was marginal increase this quarter.Note: Akre saw 20-times compounding over 20 years on his first purchases of MKL. However, they also increased their original stake substantially a decade ago at a cost-basis of $444 (2.5 times book value) and that portion has only increased ~150%.Dollar Tree (DLTR): DLTR is a 7.19% of the portfolio position first purchased in 2010 at a cost-basis in the low-20s. The stock currently trades at $107. The position was kept relatively steady in 2016 although previous years had seen significant buying. There was a ~15% increase in Q2 2017 at prices between $66.50 and $83. This quarter saw a marginal increase.O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY): ORLY is a 6.31% portfolio stake first purchased in 2005. Over 800K shares were purchased at the time. The position was at 825K shares as of Q1 2017 - every year had seen adjustments but overall the stake had remained remarkably steady over the twelve year holding period – the stock returned ~10x during that time. Last year saw a ~130% stake increase at prices between $173 and $270. The stock is now at $254.Roper Technologies (ROP): ROP is a large 5.57% of the portfolio position first purchased in Q2 & Q3 2014 at prices between $129 and $150. The stake saw incremental buying in the following quarters. In Q2 2016, there was a ~20% increase at prices between $165 and $185. The stock is now at $281. There was marginal increase this quarter.Enstar Group (ESGR): ESGR is a long-term ~4% portfolio stake that has been in the portfolio for almost a decade. The bulk of the original stake is from Q1 & Q2 2008 at prices between $89 and $119. The position remained largely untouched until 2015. H2 2015 & Q1 2016 saw a roughly 3x increase at prices between $146 and $165 and the stock is now at $196. There was a marginal increase this quarter.Note: Akre Capital Management has a ~9% ownership stake in Enstar Group.Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B): Berkshire Hathaway stake is now at 0.96% of the portfolio. Last five years had seen only very minor activity. Last quarter saw a ~27% selling at prices between $169 and $184. The stock is now at $203.Primo Water (PRMW) and AlarmCom Holding (ALRM): These two minutely small (less than 0.35% portfolio each) positions saw substantial increases this quarter. The stakes are still too small to indicate a clear bias.Note: Akre Capital Management has a 6.3% ownership stake in Primo Water.Stake Decreases:CarMax Inc. (KMX): The 4.57% KMX stake is a very long-term position first purchased in 2002. The bulk of the current stake was built over the four quarters thru Q2 2016 at prices between $42 and $68. The stock is now at $62.76. There was a marginal reduction this quarter.Verisk Analytics (VRSK): VRSK is a 3.43% portfolio position first purchased in H2 2012 at prices between $46.50 and $51. 2015 saw a huge 3x stake increase at prices between $63 and $81. The position has since been kept relatively steady. The stock is currently at $102. Last two quarters saw marginal selling.Kept Steady:Visa Inc. (V): V is a large (top five) 7.71% of the portfolio stake. It was established in Q2 2012 at a cost-basis of around $30. Q2 2013 saw a one-third increase in the low-40s and that followed with a 60% increase in Q2 2016 in the high 70s. Q1 2017 also saw another roughly one-third increase at prices between $79.50 and $90. The stock is now at $123.Note: Visa stock split 4-for-1 in March 2015. The prices quoted above are adjusted for that split.SBA Communications (SBAC): SBAC is a 5.57% portfolio stake. The original position is from H1 2014 at prices between $88 and $102. Q4 2015 saw a one-third increase at prices between $100 and $121 and a similar increase occurred in Q4 2016 as well at prices between $96 and $115. The stock currently trades well above those ranges at $173.Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT): UBNT is a 2.63% portfolio stake built up in H2 2014 at prices between $28 and $46.50. Q1 2015 also saw a ~40% stake increase at prices between $26 and $32. Since then, the position has been kept relatively steady. The stock currently goes for $57.Danaher Corporation (DHR): DHR is a 2.13% of the portfolio position established in Q4 2013 at prices between $47 and $55 and increased by roughly five-times in Q2 2014 at prices between $52 and $59. The stock is now at $99.33. Q4 2016 saw a ~10% increase.Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the Fortive spinoff in July last year.TD Ameritrade (AMTD): AMTD is a 2.10% portfolio position first purchased in 2009. The bulk of the current stake was built in 2011 & 2012 at prices between $15 and $22 and the stock is now at $55.48.LKQ Corporation (LKQ): LKQ is a 1.77% position established in 2015 at prices between $24 and $31. The five quarters thru Q2 2017 had seen a ~12% combined increase at prices between $25 and $36. Last quarter saw a ~11% trimming at prices between $31 and $36. The stock currently trades at $40.10.Boston Omaha (BOMN), Diamond Hill Investment Group (DHIL), and Lamar Advertising (LAMR): These are very small (less than ~1% of the portfolio each) stakes left untouched this quarter.Below is a spreadsheet that highlights the changes to Charles Akre's Akre Capital Management US long stock portfolio as of Q4 2017:Regulatory Filings thru 11/24/2017: None."