Breaking down the stocks Thomas Gayner (Markel Group) bought, sold, and held in Q3 2025, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Markel Group's 13F filed on October 31, 2025.
Who is Markel Group?
Markel Group is a holding company focused on specialty insurance underwriting, long-term equity investing, and ownership of diversified operating businesses (commonly referred to as Markel). The company is known for its diversified equity portfolio, typically consisting of 130-140 stocks, with the top 10 holdings comprising approximately 40% of equity assets, and cash and short-term investments averaging around 15% of total invested assets when balancing liquidity needs against opportunities. Their investment strategy is a long-term value investing approach inspired by Warren Buffett, emphasizing buy-and-hold ownership of high-quality businesses evaluated through four key pillars: profitable operations with good returns on capital and minimal debt, management teams with equal measures of talent and integrity, businesses with favorable reinvestment opportunities, and purchase prices that provide a margin of safety. Markel focuses on undervalued or underappreciated companies that can compound intrinsic value over decades, with strong qualitative factors like durable competitive advantages, reliable cash flows, resilient balance sheets, industry leadership, and alignment with the company's "Markel Style" values of excellence, fairness, and frugality.
Markel.com
Markel Group on X
Q3 '25 13F filed with SEC
Holdings in Q3 2025
| Ticker | Company | Weight | Change | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK-A | Berkshire Hathaway | 10.1% | $840.18M | |
| BRK-B | Berkshire Hathaway | 9.2% | $770.18M | |
| GOOG | Alphabet | 8.0% | $669.73M | |
| BN | Brookfield | 7.2% | $597.73M | |
| AMZN | Amazon | 5.3% | $445.89M | |
| DE | Deere | 4.8% | $401.43M | |
| HD | Home Depot | 4.5% | $372.77M | |
| V | Visa | 4.1% | $341.14M | |
| AAPL | Apple | 3.7% | $312.5M | |
| ADI | Analog Devices | 3.4% | $286.9M | |
| GS | Goldman Sachs | 3.4% | $286.18M | |
| BLK | BlackRock | 3.1% | $256.72M | |
| DIS | Disney | 2.8% | $232.63M | |
| WSO | Watsco | 2.7% | $228.5M | |
| BX | Blackstone | 2.5% | $209.97M | |
| META | Meta | 2.5% | $205.83M | |
| KKR | KKR | 2.3% | $188.66M | |
| PGR | Progressive | 2.2% | $186.14M | |
| LPLA | LPL Financial | 2.2% | Added (+2%) | $184.08M |
| LOW | Lowe's | 2.2% | Added (+1%) | $182.63M |
| AXP | American Express | 1.9% | $160.85M | |
| CAT | Caterpillar | 1.9% | $156.82M | |
| FNV | Franco-Nevada | 1.6% | Added (+6%) | $134.97M |
| NVO | Novo Nordisk | 1.6% | Added (+5%) | $131.44M |
| ADM | Archer Daniels Midland | 1.1% | Trimmed (-4%) | $89.96M |
| ROL | Rollins | 1.0% | Added (+0%) | $86.69M |
| NSC | Norfolk Southern | 0.9% | Added (+8%) | $77.06M |
| ODFL | Old Dominion Freight Line | 0.6% | Added (+5%) | $50.5M |
| TSN | Tyson Foods | 0.6% | Added (+4%) | $46.07M |
| FERG | Ferguson Enterprises | 0.4% | Added (+9%) | $33.01M |
| HCA | HCA Healthcare | 0.4% | Added (+9%) | $32.06M |
| UNP | Union Pacific | 0.4% | Added (+30%) | $29.97M |
| ABNB | Airbnb | 0.3% | Added (+7%) | $27.58M |
| LAMR | Lamar Advertising | 0.2% | Added (+8%) | $20.81M |
| MAR | Marriott International | 0.2% | Added (+22%) | $19.08M |
| CSX | CSX | 0.1% | Added (+338%) | $10.12M |
| CME | CME Group | 0.1% | Added (+42%) | $8.65M |
| CBOE | CBOE | 0.1% | Added (+50%) | $6.99M |
| AMAT | Applied Materials | 0.1% | Added (+59%) | $5.37M |
| SYY | Sysco | 0.0% | Added (+27%) | $2.51M |
| CNI | Canadian National | 0.0% | NEW | $2.36M |
| CP | Canadian Pacific Kansas City | 0.0% | NEW | $2.31M |
| XOM | ExxonMobil | 0.0% | NEW | $338.25K |
| MMM | 3M | 0.0% | Exited | $-18M |
| OI | O-I Glass | 0.0% | Exited | $-6.98M |
| CE | Celanese | 0.0% | Exited | $-4.5M |
| GPK | Graphic Packaging | 0.0% | Exited | $-3.67M |
| BALL | Ball | 0.0% | Exited | $-2.86M |
| WTW | Willis Towers Watson | 0.0% | Exited | $-2.64M |
| IT | Gartner | 0.0% | Exited | $-2.3M |
| INTU | Intuit | 0.0% | Exited | $-2.14M |
| CSGP | CoStar | 0.0% | Exited | $-1.5M |
| EL | Estée Lauder | 0.0% | Exited | $-1.21M |
| BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev | 0.0% | Exited | $-755.92K |
Current Investment Strategy
Markel Group maintained its Buffett-inspired long-term value approach in Q3 2025, concentrating 40% of its equity portfolio in quality compounders led by Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet, Brookfield, and Amazon, while exiting industrial cyclicals 3M, O-I Glass, Celanese, Graphic Packaging, and Ball. The firm signaled renewed conviction in North American infrastructure by initiating positions in Canadian rails Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, alongside energy major ExxonMobil, reflecting a pivot toward capital-intensive businesses with pricing power and durable competitive advantages.
New Investments
Canadian National CNI
Thomas Gayner bought $2.36M of Canadian National in Q3 2025. Canadian National delivered strong Q3 2025 results with net income of $1,139 million ($1.83 per diluted share), demonstrating solid operational execution despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. The company is positioning for long-term value creation by reducing 2026 capital expenditure to C$2.8 billion (a decrease of nearly C$600 million) while doubling down on productivity initiatives to drive increased free cash flow. This strategic pivot, combined with management's focus on capturing freight movement opportunities across its diversified network, suggests CN is well-positioned to benefit from volume recovery while strengthening shareholder returns.
- Q3 2025 diluted EPS of $1.83 reflects solid per-share profitability amid macro headwinds.
- Nine-month net income of $3,472 million demonstrates consistent earnings generation year-to-date.
- Capital discipline with C$2.8 billion planned 2026 capex spend (down 17% from current levels) should enhance free cash flow generation and financial flexibility.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP
Thomas Gayner bought $2.31M of Canadian Pacific Kansas City in Q3 2025. Canadian Pacific Kansas City delivered solid Q3 2025 operational performance with net income growth of 9.6% to $917 million and EPS improving 9.5% year-over-year, despite narrowly missing revenue estimates. Operating efficiency strengthened meaningfully with the operating ratio compressing 260 basis points to 63.5%, supported by robust growth in commodities including potash and fertilizers at +15% and +11% respectively. Management guides for 10-14% EPS growth in 2025 with continued capital investment.
- Net income increased 9.6% to $917 million in Q3 2025; EPS improved 9.5% year-over-year.
- Operating ratio improved 260 basis points to 63.5%; potash and fertilizer segments grew 15% and 11% respectively.
- Management guides 2025 core adjusted EPS growth of 10-14% with C$2.9 billion planned capex investment.
ExxonMobil XOM
Thomas Gayner bought $338.25K of ExxonMobil in Q3 2025. ExxonMobil demonstrated solid operational momentum in Q3 2025, with earnings of $7.5 billion representing a 5.6% quarter-over-quarter increase from Q2's $7.1 billion, driven by record production from Permian and Guyana assets and strong $14.8 billion in operating cash flow. The company's $1.88 earnings per share beat analyst estimates of $1.83, reflecting execution excellence despite facing a mixed commodity price environment. While year-to-date results show a 14.3% decline versus 2024 due to lower commodity realizations, the quarter-over-quarter improvement and strategic investments position the company well for continued value creation through disciplined capital allocation and industry-leading cost structure.
- Q3 EPS of $1.88 exceeded analyst expectations by 2.7% ($1.83 forecast) driven by 139,000 boe/d production growth to record 4.8 million boe/d.
- Operating cash flow of $14.8 billion and strong shareholder distributions of $9.4 billion including a dividend increase to $1.03 per share demonstrate sustainable cash generation.
- Structural cost savings of $14.3 billion against 2019 levels put the company on track for over $18 billion in cost reductions by 2030, maintaining competitive positioning.
Added, Trimmed, and Exited
Added
Thomas Gayner dramatically increased transportation exposure, led by a massive 338% position size increase in CSX (CSX) through adding 220,000 shares, while also adding to Union Pacific (UNP), Norfolk Southern (NSC), and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL). Beyond rails, Gayner added to diversified holdings including Franco-Nevada (FNV), Tyson Foods (TSN), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Applied Materials (AMAT), CME Group (CME), CBOE (CBOE), Lowe's (LOW), Marriott International (MAR), Airbnb (ABNB), Ferguson Enterprises (FERG), Lamar Advertising (LAMR), LPL Financial (LPLA), Sysco (SYY), Rollins (ROL), and HCA Healthcare (HCA).
What it means: The aggressive concentration into railroads—with four new or expanded rail positions plus two new positions in Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City—signals strong conviction that rails are undervalued relative to their long-term competitive positioning, pricing power, and free cash flow generation capabilities. The CSX position expansion is particularly notable, suggesting Gayner sees exceptional value after potential sector weakness. The broader adds across consumer, industrial, and financial holdings reflect opportunistic buying across quality businesses trading at attractive entry points, consistent with Markel's value-oriented, multi-decade holding period philosophy.
Trimmed
Markel Group made only one reduction this quarter, trimming Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) by 68,000 shares while the position still generated an 8.3% return.
What it means: The minimal trimming activity—just one position reduced among dozens held—reinforces Markel's buy-and-hold discipline and suggests Gayner remains comfortable with portfolio positioning despite market volatility. The ADM trim appears to be modest portfolio rebalancing rather than a fundamental view change, as the position still gained value and represents a meaningful holding in the ag commodities space that complements other food-related investments like Tyson Foods and Sysco.
Exited
Thomas Gayner completely exited eleven positions totaling approximately $44 million, dominated by materials and packaging companies including 3M (MMM) ($18.0M), O-I Glass (OI) ($7.0M), Celanese (CE) ($4.5M), Graphic Packaging (GPK) ($3.7M), and Ball (BALL) ($2.9M), while also liquidating business services positions in Willis Towers Watson (WTW), Gartner (IT), Intuit (INTU), and CoStar (CSGP), plus consumer names Estée Lauder (EL) and Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD).
What it means: The wholesale exit from materials and packaging represents a clear sector rotation away from cyclical, capital-intensive manufacturing businesses facing margin pressure, commodity cost volatility, and demand uncertainty. The simultaneous exit from high-multiple software and services businesses (Gartner, Intuit, CoStar) suggests valuation discipline, with proceeds likely redeployed into the transportation sector where Gayner sees superior long-term value. This culling of eleven positions—while adding to nineteen others—demonstrates active portfolio management focused on concentrating capital in higher-conviction, better-value opportunities rather than passive buy-and-hold across all positions.
Disclaimer: All posts are for informational purposes only. They are NOT a recommendation to buy or sell the securities discussed. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing your money.
