Author: Wall Street News
Following 'Oracle of Omaha' Warren Buffett's resignation as CEO, Berkshire Hathaway has released its second 13F filing.
According to documents disclosed on August 14, Eastern Time, Berkshire's 13F equity portfolio value was approximately $299.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, an increase of 12.09% from approximately $263.1 billion at the end of the first quarter. Overall, Berkshire initiated a position in 1 new stock, added to 7 stocks, reduced holdings in 6 stocks, and completely exited 1 stock in the second quarter.
It is evident that under the leadership of Greg Abel, Berkshire has been continuously increasing its bets on Alphabet, housing, and airlines, while gradually trimming traditional financials and some consumer holdings.
When consolidating Alphabet's two share classes, Berkshire's current top ten holdings are Apple, American Express, Alphabet, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Chubb, Moody's, and Kraft Heinz.
Apple remains Berkshire's largest holding, with a portfolio value of approximately $65.950 billion, accounting for about 22% of the 13F portfolio value. American Express ranks second with a value of approximately $51.282 billion, a 17.14% share. The combined Alphabet holds the third position. Coca-Cola and Bank of America rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the second quarter of this year, Berkshire continued to significantly increase its stake in Alphabet (Google's parent company). Berkshire added approximately 24.54 million shares of Alphabet-A, an increase of 45.24%, bringing the total holding to about 78.79 million shares valued at approximately $28.158 billion. It also added approximately 23.60 million shares of Alphabet-C, a staggering increase of 658.35%, bringing the total holding to about 27.19 million shares valued at approximately $9.606 billion.
This brings the combined value of Alphabet-A and Alphabet-C to approximately $37.764 billion at the end of Q2, representing about 12.62% of the 13F portfolio value, surpassing Coca-Cola to become Berkshire's third-largest holding after Apple and American Express on a consolidated basis.
Additionally, among the top ten holdings, the only stock that was reduced was Bank of America. In the quarter, Berkshire sold approximately 30.20 million shares (based on the period-end price, the reduction was about 30.23 million shares), a decrease of 5.89%, representing a reduction in value of approximately $1.72 billion. This made Bank of America the largest reduction for the quarter. At quarter-end, Berkshire still held 483 million shares of Bank of America valued at approximately $27.544 billion, accounting for 9.2% of the 13F portfolio value, making it the fifth-largest holding. Bank of America remains a significant investment for Berkshire but has now been reduced for two consecutive quarters.
Otherwise, Berkshire's holdings in the remaining top ten stocks remained unchanged in the second quarter.
Regarding other additions, in the second quarter of this year, Berkshire increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by approximately 17.51 million shares, an increase of about 44%, bringing the total holding to 57.32 million shares valued at approximately $5.369 billion. It added about 3.01 million shares of Lennar Corporation Class A, an increase of nearly 30%, and also added about 60,000 shares of Lennar Corporation Class B. Berkshire increased its stake in Macy's by approximately 4.31 million shares, a 141.82% increase. It slightly added about 550,000 shares of The New York Times Company.
The only new position initiated by Berkshire in the second quarter was D.R. Horton, with a small initiation of 3,564 shares worth approximately $580,000.
Regarding reductions, apart from Bank of America, Berkshire also reduced holdings in Ally Financial, Capital One Financial, kidney dialysis service provider DaVita, grocer Kroger, and steel manufacturer Nucor. The alcoholic beverage producer Constellation Brands, which was significantly reduced in the first quarter, was completely sold off by Berkshire in the second quarter.
