Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett-run Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) maintained its core portfolio stocks largely unchanged in the third quarter but divested a slew of stocks including legacy automaker General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM).
Core Holdings: Berkshire maintained its stake in its biggest portfolio holding, namely Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), at 915,560382 shares at the end of the third quarter, 13-F filed with the SEC late Tuesday showed. In value terms, Berkshire’s Apple stake was at $156.75 billion.
The company said in the 10-Q report released earlier this month that about 78% of the aggregate fair value of its equity portfolio was concentrated in five companies, namely Apple, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP), Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX).
The 13-F showed that the number of shares of each of these companies was unchanged, save Chevron. The company trimmed its stake in the oil giant from 123,120,120 shares at the end of the June quarter to 110,248,289 shares, a 10.45% reduction in terms of the number of shares held. In value terms, Berkshire now holds $18.59 billion worth of Chevron shares.
Oil rallied over 28% in the third quarter amid worries concerning supply disruptions amid geopolitical tensions. A barrel of oil ended the quarter at $90.70, although it has cooled off since then.
Incidentally, Berkshire maintained its stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) unchanged at unchanged at 224,129,192, valued at $14.54 billion.
Major Divestments: Berkshire sold all of the Activision shares it held at the end of the second quarter. The disposal comes amid the video game software company’s acquisition by software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), which closed last month. Previously, Berkshire held 13.51 million shares of Activision, valued at $1.24 billion.
Berkshire also cashed out of GM, specialty chemicals company, Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) and United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS). The Buffett-led company held 22.18 million, 4.81 million, 327,100, 315,400 and 59,400 shares, respectively, in each of these companies at the end of the June quarter.
New Additions/Trimmings: Berkshire added Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BATRA), which owns and operates a league baseball club, to its portfolio in the third quarter. It picked up 126,778 shares, valued at $7.99 million.
The firm also added 9.68 million shares Sirius XM Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) valued at $43.77 million.
On the other hand, Berkshire reduced its stake in HP, Inc. (NASDAQ:HPQ) from 120.95 million to 102.52 million, down 15.24% from the previous quarter.
The Amazon, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) position was reduced from 10.55 million at the end of the second quarter to 10 million at the end of the third quarter, with the current stake valued at $1.38 billion.
Status Quo: Aside from the core holdings, Berkshire also held its position in a slew of stocks unchanged. Among these are homebuilders Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) and D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), payment processors Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), Visa, Inc. (NYSE:V), technology companies Snowflake, Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) and VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN), Kroger, Inc. (NYSE:KR) and Mondelez International, Inc. (NYSE:MDLZ).
The firm also held unchanged two of the ETFs that track the broader S&P 500. The firm maintained its stake in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) at 39,400 units, valued at $16.84 million, and in Vanguard 500 Index Fund (NYSE:VOO) at 43,000 units, valued at $16.89 million.
After a solid run in the first half of the year, the market embarked on a lean patch since late July, with the weakness continuing through the remainder of the third quarter. Analysts blamed the setback on rate fears, which pushed up bond yields, and the typical seasonality.
The S&P 500 Index fell 3.65% in the third quarter, although so far this year, the index has gained 17.09%.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares closed Tuesday’s session up 1.21% at $354.25, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo by Kent Sievers on Shutterstock.
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