If You Invested $1,000 In Apple Stock When Warren Buffett Bought Shares, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Warren Buffett once called Apple Inc AAPL "probably the best business" he knew in the world when asked why he invested so heavily in the technology giant in recent years.

Here's a look back at the investment and how much investors could have made following the legendary investor, known to many as the Oracle of Omaha.

What Happened: Best known for his value investing philosophies over the years, Buffett buying growth stock Apple for his Berkshire Hathaway BRKBRK conglomerate may have shocked many investors.

The initial investment of 9.8 million shares was announced in 2016. Buffett added to the position over time and occasionally sold shares.

The initial purchase, unveiled on May 16, 2016, showed that Buffett bought Apple stock at $27.25 at the time, or around $6.81 adjusted for a 2020 stock split. The initial stake purchased by Buffett was around $1.1 billion.

An investor who chose on May 16, 2016 to follow Buffett and buy Apple stock would have done quite well.

Shares of Apple traded between $22.91 and $23.60 on May 16, 2016. An investment of $1,000 at the day's high could have bought 42.35 shares of Apple.

Those 42.35 shares of Apple would be valued at $9,508.25 at the time of writing, based on a share price of $224.41 for AAPL.

This represents a hypothetical return of 850.8% over the last seven years, one that has outperformed the overall stock market.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500, would have seen a $1,000 investment turn into $2,743.88 over the same time period. This represents a hypothetical return of 174.4% over the same time period.

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Why It's Important: Buffett has been recognized for his value investing strategy. Some may have seen his investment in Apple as a rare one, given his preference for value over growth and his typical shyness to technology stocks. Investors who followed his lead are likely thankful they did.

Buffett trimmed part of the Apple stock position in 2021, taking some gains from the investment in the technology giant. He later added to the position and made the tech giant one of the biggest pieces in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio.

Buffett has since sold more shares and his position today stands at an even 400 million shares valued at around $90 billion. Berkshire Hathaway owns around 2.6% of Apple, and the stake makes up a large portion of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio.

Over the years, the legendary investor has admitted that he wishes he would have bought shares earlier.

"It's probably the best business I know in the world," Buffett previously said.

Buffett said Apple would be an important part of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio in the future.

"I don't think of Apple as a stock. I think of it as a third business," Buffett said in reference to Berkshire's insurance and railroad interests being two large business segments.

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This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

Photo: Fortune Live Media on flickr