Amid the coronavirus pandemic, superstar investors from the legendary Warren Buffett to hedge fund supremos like Seth Klarman have been purchasing what they perceive as undervalued stocks, hoping to make a killer profit by liquidating the shares when the economy recovers and prices return to the companies' supposed real value. Click or scroll through to find out 30 bargain stocks the big names are buying right now.

Dying to know what Warren Buffett's biggest buy was in the first quarter of this year when the stock market tanked? Believe it or not, it was his own company's shares. Berkshire Hathaway snagged $1.6 billion (£1.3bn) of Berkshire Hathaway stock during this time. Other top investors who are taking advantage of lower prices – Class A stock has dropped 24% since the start of the year – include Bill Ackman, Robert Olstein, Glen Greenberg and David Einhorn.

The so-called Oracle of Omaha made only two meaningful purchases during the first quarter of 2020 that he hasn't since offloaded and has been on something of a selling frenzy. Apart from his own firm's stock, Warren Buffett's key buy was US bank holding company PNC Financial Services. Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in the parent of PNC Bank by 6% and bought up 526,930 shares.

Facebook stock is trading at a near-record high at the current time but a number of key investors clearly expect the share price to increase further in value if their recent spending sprees are anything to go by. Major fund managers who have pumped cash into and/or bigged up the stock of late include Seth Klarman (the man dubbed "the next Warren Buffett"), Glen Greenberg, Robert Olstein and Blackswan Dexteritas' Kim Bolton. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has also vacuumed up shares in the social media titan.

Staying with Seth Klarman, HP is another stock Baupost Group seemingly has high hopes for given the firm doubled its stake in the Palo Alto-based tech company at the end of March, acquiring 10 million shares in the business. Since the start of the year, HP stock has declined by almost 20%.

Moving on to another highly revered investor, Carl Icahn has been busy splurging on stock in recent months. His company Icahn Capital Management established a new position in diversified downstream energy company Delek US Holdings during the first quarter, purchasing over 10.5 million shares, worth $166,000 (£135k).

In addition to establishing a new position, Icahn's firm has increased its stakes in a number of companies. They include Welbilt, a leading global provider of commercial foodservice equipment, which Icahn Capital Management has boosted its interest in by buying a further 2 million shares. Welbilt's stock price has dropped by a massive 64% since the beginning of January.

Icahn has also increased his stake in American oil producer Occidental Petroleum Corporation, upping his position in the energy company to almost 10% with a view to gaining control of the business. The company's share price is $14.13 at the time of writing, down from $42.58 at the start of 2020, a dip of 66%.

US natural gas company Cheniere Energy is another firm Icahn has been channelling money into of late. During the first quarter of 2020 the activist investor acquired 570,662 shares in the business via his Icahn Capital Management investment arm, bringing its total stake in the energy company to 20,155,756 shares. 

During the first quarter of 2020 Icahn Capital Management purchased an additional 2,585,201 shares in Newell Brands, the US company that owns a formidable portfolio of household names including Sharpie, Paper Mate, Rubbermaid and Parker. Its share price has declined by 33% since the beginning of the year.

Another investing legend who is renowned for his Midas touch, George Soros is also taking advantage of the Coronavirus pandemic to buy up bargain stocks. During the first quarter of this year the Hungarian-born investor's Soros Fund Management bagged an additional 312,000 shares in real estate trust AGNC Investment Corp, boosting its stake by 22%. Soros has also increased his stake in at-home cycling company Peloton Interactive, which is currently trading at a near-record high.

Soros has added to his position in Canadian integrated oil company Cenovus Energy, too. The genius investor purchased an additional 1.7 million shares in the firm during the first quarter of this year. Experts believe the business is well-placed to navigate the current downturn thanks to its strong liquidity. The company's wow-factor Calgary HQ is pictured here.

In terms of new positions, during the first quarter of 2020 Soros bought 300,000 shares in NiSource, which is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in America and counts brands such as NIPSCO and Columbia Gas among its stellar portfolio. The stock is currently down 23% from a mid-February spike.

The Twitter share price reached $39.05 on 20 February but is currently $31.49. Several big names have been buying up stock in the microblogging and social networking company in recent months. They include top hedge fund manager David Tepper via his Appaloosa Management fund and Paul Singer's Elliott Management.

With so many of us stuck at home and hungry for streaming entertainment, Netflix stock has understandably been hitting record highs, but that hasn't stopped leading investors including David Tepper from purchasing shares in the business. A slew of analysts believe the stock will enjoy additional gains with factors such as significant subscriber growth and improving margins likely to push the price even higher.

Streaming-related businesses are of course hot right now but according to The Motley Fool the smart money is on Roku rather than Netflix. Its analysts reckon Roku could be the “best investment in streaming” as the company appears to have far more scope for growth with its user base and revenues expanding in leaps and bounds.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is another major entertainment-orientated company big names are lining up to invest in at the moment. Daniel Loeb's hedge fund recently bought over 1.4 million shares in the company, George Soros has acquired a multimillion-dollar stake and other top investors like Stanley Druckenmiller and David Einhorn have made major stock purchases. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has also invested in the storied firm.

Like Daniel Loeb and the other investors mentioned in our round-up, Mark Cuban is famed for being a lucrative dealmaker and stock market pro. The Shark Tank star recently told Market Insider that he's been buying up shares in US events promoter and venue operator Live Nation, which has seen its stock plunge 35% since the beginning of 2020.

In the same interview Cuban said he's also putting sizeable sums of money into SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500. Now at $297.60, its share price is down 8% since the start of January but has been trending up from a year-to-date nadir in late March when the price fell to $222.95.

The aforementioned Bill Ackman has enjoyed excellent performance of late via his hedge fund Pershing Square Holdings, and as well as acquiring Berkshire Hathaway stock has made some other notable investments. First up is Agilent Technologies, which is a leader in the life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets. The fund has increased its holdings by 300%.

Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings has also grown its Starbucks position, having increasing its stock holdings by 80% to more than 10 million shares. The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has bought big into the coffeehouse chain as well. The firm's share price has dipped by 13% since the beginning of January.

Pershing Square Holdings has upped its position in the Howard Hughes Corporation by 455%. The hedge fund now possesses a total of 12.2 million shares in the Texas-headquartered real estate development and management company. Its shares are currently trading at $47.20, down from $123.57 at the start of the year.

Together with a legion of other in-the-know investors, Ackman's hedge fund has also bought shares in world-leading US private equity, investment management and financial services firm The Blackstone Group, which is a shiny new addition to the admired fund's bumper portfolio.

Examining the activity of major fund managers, now could be an opportune time to invest in hotel companies. Ackman's Pershing Group for instance recently added lodging real estate investment trust Park Hotels & Resorts to its portfolio. The trust's share price has plummeted since the start of 2020, down from $25.25 to $9.29, a precipitous fall of 63%.

Shares in Marriott International have also crashed since the beginning of the year as hotel occupancy rates have nosedived due to lockdowns and travel bans. The chain's stock has dropped in price by 39%. Among the investors who are making the most of the low prices are Glenn Greenberg, who manages the portfolio at his investment company Brave Warrior Advisors. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has also bought up shares in the chain.

As well as investments in Berkshire Hathaway and Facebook, Greenberg's Brave Warrior Advisors has pumped large sums of cash into acquiring shares in US health insurance provider Anthem, increasing its holdings by almost 40% to 875,000 shares. The stock is currently trading at $280.81, compared to $300.87 at the beginning of 2020.

One of four stocks Robert Olstein's firm Olstein Capital Management has bought this past quarter alongside Berkshire Hathaway, Facebook and Hologic, US HR management software and services company Automatic Data Processing has seen its share price decrease by nearly 21% since the start of the year.

While the Beyond Meat share price has surged this year making the stock seem rather expensive and far from a bargain, prominent Wall Street investors and analysts have been bullish about its future prospects, and shortages of meat in the US could help push the price higher in the coming months.

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As we've mentioned, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, known as the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has been purchasing shares in a multitude of major Western companies of late. In fact the fund has spent a staggering $7.7 billion on its recent stock-buying spree. In addition to Facebook, Walt Disney, Starbucks and Marriott International, the fund has scored shares in BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total, as well as Bank of America, Boeing and Citigroup. The price of Citigroup stock has fallen 44% since the beginning of 2020.

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