Berkshire cuts bank holdings, takes position in gold
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has filed its SEC Form 13F for Q2 2020 indicating reduced holdings of banking and financial stocks, while taking a $564m position in Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD).1 The latter purchase surprised many observers, since Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett has derided investing in gold.
After financing the acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum by Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY),5 Berkshire eventually received 18.9 million common shares of Occidental, worth $219 million as of the end of Q1 2020.3 This position was sold in Q2 2020.
During Berkshire's annual meeting in May, Buffett announced that they had exited their holdings of four major U.S. airlines, confirmed by the Q2 Form 13F.6 1 For the second consecutive quarter, Berkshire trimmed holdings of satellite radio service Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI). This position is now 50 million shares, down by 62% from 132 million at the end of Q1 2020, and worth $264 million at the end of Q2 2020.3 1
Berkshire increased its holdings of REIT Store Capital Corp. (STOR), grocery chain Kroger Co. (KR), and Canadian oil and gas company Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) to, respectively, $581m, $743 million, and $324 million, as of the end of Q2 2020.1
Comparing 13F filings for Q2 20201 and Q1 20203 reveals that Berkshire cut its holdings of several banking and financial services stocks.
Among these were, with the new share holdings and values as of the end of Q2:
"Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC): down by 85.6m shares, or 26%, to 237.6m shares ($6.1b).
"JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): down by 35.5m shares, or 62%, to 22.2m shares ($2.1b).
"PNC Financial Services Group (PNC): down by 3.85m shares, or 42%, to 5.35m shares ($563m). In Q1 2020, Berkshire had increased its holdings of PNC.4
"M&T Bank Corp. (MTB): down by 846 thousand shares, or 16%, to 4.54m shares ($472m).
"Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY): down by 7.4m shares, or 9%, to 72.4m shares ($2.8b).
"US Bancorp: down by 10.5m shares, or 7%, to 132m shares ($4.9b).