Breaking down the stocks Thomas Gayner (Markel Group) bought, sold, and held in Q4 2025, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Markel Group's 13F filed on February 06, 2026.
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
Q4 '25 13F filed with SEC
Holdings in Q4 2025
| Ticker | Company | Weight | Change | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOG | Alphabet | 10.4% | $862.91M | |
| BRK-A | Berkshire Hathaway | 10.1% | $840.85M | |
| BRK-B | Berkshire Hathaway | 9.3% | $770.05M | |
| BN | Brookfield | 7.2% | Added (+50%) | $599.95M |
| AMZN | Amazon | 5.7% | $468.74M | |
| DE | Deere | 4.9% | $408.72M | |
| V | Visa | 4.2% | $350.46M | |
| AAPL | Apple | 4.0% | $333.65M | |
| HD | Home Depot | 3.8% | $316.57M | |
| GS | Goldman Sachs | 3.8% | $315.88M | |
| ADI | Analog Devices | 3.3% | Trimmed (-12%) | $277.5M |
| BLK | BlackRock | 2.8% | $235.69M | |
| DIS | Disney | 2.8% | $231.14M | |
| BX | Blackstone | 2.3% | $189.44M | |
| CAT | Caterpillar | 2.3% | $188.27M | |
| KKR | KKR | 2.2% | $185.08M | |
| GOOGL | Alphabet | 2.2% | $179.04M | |
| PGR | Progressive | 2.1% | $171.64M | |
| META | Meta | 2.0% | Trimmed (-11%) | $163.9M |
| RLI | RLI | 1.8% | $153.2M | |
| APO | Apollo Global | 1.8% | $146.57M | |
| NVO | Novo Nordisk | 1.8% | Added (+21%) | $146.01M |
| FNV | Franco-Nevada | 1.7% | Added (+13%) | $141.68M |
| GD | General Dynamics | 1.6% | $131.63M | |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | 1.5% | $126.41M | |
| NSC | Norfolk Southern | 1.0% | Added (+7%) | $78.96M |
| ODFL | Old Dominion Freight Line | 0.8% | Added (+18%) | $66.11M |
| TSN | Tyson Foods | 0.6% | Added (+4%) | $51.85M |
| FERG | Ferguson Enterprises | 0.4% | Added (+11%) | $36.4M |
| MAR | Marriott International | 0.3% | Added (+23%) | $27.84M |
| LAMR | Lamar Advertising | 0.3% | Added (+9%) | $23.42M |
| CCK | Crown Holdings | 0.3% | Added (+12%) | $21.83M |
| CSX | CSX | 0.2% | Added (+54%) | $15.95M |
| UBER | Uber | 0.1% | Added (+13%) | $11.44M |
| NSP | Insperity | 0.1% | Added (+16%) | $5.92M |
| XOM | ExxonMobil | 0.1% | Added (+1167%) | $4.57M |
| CNI | Canadian National | 0.1% | Added (+78%) | $4.4M |
| CP | Canadian Pacific Kansas City | 0.0% | Added (+63%) | $3.72M |
| ICE | Intercontinental Exchange | 0.0% | Added (+271%) | $3.38M |
| BRO | Brown & Brown | 0.0% | NEW | $876.7K |
| TRU | TransUnion | 0.0% | Trimmed (-98%) | $171.5K |
| FDX | FedEx | 0.0% | Exited | $-50.23M |
| ADBE | Adobe | 0.0% | Exited | $-4.94M |
Current Investment Strategy
Markel Group, the specialty insurer helmed by Tom Gayner, maintained its hallmark low-turnover, Buffett-inspired value approach in Q4 2025, concentrating a roughly $13 billion equity portfolio in dominant franchises spanning big tech, financial services, and industrial leaders—anchored by top holdings Alphabet, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Deere, Visa, Apple, Home Depot, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock. The firm trimmed exposure to logistics and enterprise software by exiting FedEx and Adobe, while doubling down on its insurance-sector expertise with a new stake in Brown & Brown, one of the nation's largest independent insurance brokerages, underscoring Gayner's preference for durable, cash-generative businesses operating in industries he knows well.
New Investments
Brown & Brown BRO
Thomas Gayner bought $876.7K of Brown & Brown in Q4 2025. Brown & Brown delivered strong full-year 2025 results driven primarily by aggressive M&A activity, completing 43 acquisitions that added $1.8 billion in annual revenue, though Q4 saw the stock decline 6.39% after missing revenue expectations. While adjusted earnings grew 10.9% to $4.26 per share and adjusted EBITDAC margins expanded 70 basis points to 35.9%, organic revenue contracted 2.8% in Q4 and declined 2.8% organically, signaling underlying business challenges offset by acquisition-fueled growth. The landmark Accession acquisition represents the company's largest deal to date with anticipated EBITDA synergies of $30-40 million, though margin pressures from lower-margin acquired businesses and flood claims comparisons suggest growth sustainability questions remain.
- Adjusted diluted EPS grew 10.9% to $4.26 for full year 2025, though Q4 organic revenue declined 2.8%.
- Total revenues increased 22.8% to $5.9 billion, with 43 acquisitions contributing $1.8 billion versus flat organic growth.
- Q4 adjusted EBITDAC margin held steady at 32.9% while full-year margin expanded 70 basis points to 35.9%.
Added, Trimmed, and Exited
Added
Markel Group was a net buyer across many positions in Q4 2025, led by a massive increase in Brookfield (BN) with over 4.3 million shares added (~50% increase), followed by meaningful additions to Novo Nordisk (NVO) (+501K shares), CSX (CSX) (+155K shares), Franco-Nevada (FNV) (+78K shares), and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) (+62.9K shares). The firm also built out its railroad exposure by adding to Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), and Norfolk Southern (NSC), while boosting positions in ExxonMobil (XOM), Tyson Foods (TSN), Crown Holdings (CCK), Marriott International (MAR), Uber (UBER), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Ferguson Enterprises (FERG), Insperity (NSP), and Lamar Advertising (LAMR).
What it means: The aggressive doubling down on Brookfield signals strong conviction in the alternative asset manager's long-term compounding potential. The broad-based additions to railroads — CSX, ODFL, CNI, CP, and NSC — suggest Markel sees compelling value in transportation infrastructure, potentially anticipating a freight cycle recovery. The Novo Nordisk add amid the stock's weakness from GLP-1 competition concerns reflects the firm's classic contrarian, long-term value approach. The ExxonMobil position grew more than tenfold from a tiny base, indicating a new thematic bet on energy.
Trimmed
Markel Group trimmed three positions: Analog Devices (ADI) by ~144K shares, Meta (META) by ~32K shares, and nearly eliminated TransUnion (TRU), cutting ~99K of its ~101K shares down to just 2,000.
What it means: The near-complete exit of TransUnion (down ~98% of the position) effectively signals lost conviction in the credit data company, which struggled with slowing consumer lending activity. The Meta and Analog Devices trims appear to be prudent profit-taking and portfolio rebalancing — Meta had been a strong performer, and trimming a semiconductor name like ADI may reflect caution around cyclical earnings peaks, freeing up capital for the many additions made during the quarter.
Exited
Markel Group fully liquidated its FedEx (FDX) position (213K shares, ~$50.2M) and its Adobe (ADBE) position (14K shares, ~$4.9M).
What it means: The FedEx exit was the most significant portfolio action by dollar value this quarter. FedEx has faced persistent headwinds from its costly DRIVE transformation program and weakening freight demand, and the planned spin-off of its Freight division may have altered the investment thesis. The Adobe exit, while smaller, likely reflects concerns about AI disruption to its creative software dominance and slowing growth. Both exits freed up substantial capital that appears to have been redeployed into the firm's high-conviction additions, particularly Brookfield and the railroad basket.
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.
