Buffett’s portfolio: Stocks Berkshire Hathaway is buying or selling
Warren Buffett is arguably the world’s most famous investor and his investment moves are closely followed. Each quarter, the company he runs, Berkshire Hathaway, discloses its current holdings to shareholders.
Here are some of the changes Buffett and his two investment officers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, made during the fourth quarter, according to the latest 13F regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These changes were made prior to a stock-market pullback that occurred during January 2022, when the S&P 500 fell 5.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 9 percent. All holdings data is as of Dec. 31, 2021.
Where Buffett & Co. are buying/adding Nu Holdings (NU)
A new $1 billion position was established in Nu Holdings during the fourth quarter. Nu Holdings is a digital financial services platform that offers credit, debit cards, savings solutions and other personal finance services. It primarily operates in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.
Activision Blizzard (ATVI)
Berkshire also established a new position in video-game maker Activision Blizzard. It’s likely Berkshire has already made a nice profit on the $975 million stake, after Activision agreed to be acquired by Microsoft in a $75 billion deal. The stock ended 2021 at about $66 per share and
recently traded for $81.50.
Liberty Sirius XM Series A (LSXMA) and Liberty Media Formula One (FWONK)
Berkshire also boosted its stake in Liberty Sirius XM Series A by about 36%, to just over $1 billion, and established a new position in Liberty Media Formula One Series C, with about $134 million.
Chevron (CVX)
Berkshire increased its position in oil company Chevron by about one-third during the fourth quarter. The stake was worth about $4.5 billion at the end of the quarter.
Where Buffett & Co. are selling
Marsh & McLennan (MMC)
Berkshire cut its stake in insurance broker Marsh & McLennan for the third consecutive quarter, reducing it by about 85% during the most recent quarter.
AbbVie (ABBV), BristolMyers Squibb (BMY), Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), and Royalty Pharma (RPRX)
Berkshire also continued to reduce its stake in drugmakers AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Both positions were cut by more than 75% during the quarter.
Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA)
Long-term holdings in Visa and Mastercard were also reduced during the fourth quarter. Berkshire’s Visa stake was reduced by a little over 13%, while its Mastercard holdings were reduced by about 7%.
Charter Communications (CHTR)
A stake in broadband and cable company Charter Communications was reduced by about 9% during the fourth quarter. It was still worth about $2.5 billion at quarter end and has performed well for Berkshire since the position was first bought during the second quarter of 2014.
Top stock holdings in Buffett’s portfolio
Berkshire takes a concentrated approach with its investments, typically holding the majority of its portfolio in just a few companies. Its top holdings didn’t change during the fourth quarter and just four companies accounted for more than 70% of the portfolio’s value.
■ 1.Apple (AAPL) – $157.5 billion
■ 2.Bank of America (BAC) – $44.9 billion
■ 3.American Express (AXP) – $24.8 billion
■ 4.Coca-Cola (KO) – $23.7 billion
Buffett spent more than $20 billion repurchasing Berkshire stock in the first three quarters of 2021, including $7.6 billion during the third quarter. This is an indication that the company believes the shares are undervalued and continuing shareholders will benefit from the buybacks. Berkshire’s fourth quarter results will be released on Saturday along with Buffett’s widely read letter to shareholders.
Bottom line
Buffett and Berkshire have an excellent track record in selecting investments but be sure to research any investments thoroughly before investing yourself.