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>>> 47% of Berkshire Hathaway's $276 Billion Warren Buffett-Led Portfolio Is Invested in 3 Dividend Stocks
by Jennifer Saibil
May 31, 2025
https://finviz.com/news/70816/47-of-berkshire-hathaways-276-billion-warren-buffett-led-portfolio-is-invested-in-3-dividend-stocks
AAPL
Apple Inc
AXP
American Express Co
KO
Coca-Cola Co
When Warren Buffett steps down as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of this year, he will leave behind a legacy as perhaps the greatest investor of his time. As of the end of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway stock had gained an astounding 5,502,284% since Buffett took it over, and one way he turned it into a trillion-dollar company was by investing not in hot growth stocks, but strong value stocks.
One feature Buffett loves in a stock is a dividend. Paying dividends suggests a company is mature, stable, and committed to rewarding shareholders -- all attributes that reinforce an investment thesis. Not all of the stocks in Berkshire Hathaway's $276 billion equity portfolio pay dividends, but most do.
Its top three holdings -- Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), American Express (NYSE: AXP), and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) -- all do, and together, they account for almost half of the portfolio. Let's consider what makes them such winners by Buffett's standards.
Apple: 21.4% of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio
Buffett only started a position in Apple in 2016, but it quickly moved into the top spot in the portfolio, reaching about 50% before Buffett and his team started selling some of it off last year. It now takes up a more reasonable amount of space, but it's still the largest position. Buffett said that Apple is an even better business than his perennial favorites, Coca-Cola and American Express, and he jested that CEO Tim Cook has made Berkshire Hathaway a lot more money than he ever has.
Apple fans love its user-friendly, innovative, and tech-strong products, and it has created an ecosystem of devices and services that work together, generating loyalty and additional sales. Shoppers typically upgrade over time to newer versions of their favorite products, keeping them in the ecosystem.
Like many tech giants, Apple is investing in artificial intelligence (AI), and it's developing its exclusive brand, Apple Intelligence, that offers a premium experience as part of the Apple package. Management expects AI to be an important growth driver for the next generation of Apple products. Investors have been worried about how tariffs will impact Apple's business, because iPhones are largely made in China, but management is working on long-term efforts to move more of its production to other countries to mitigate the impact of that part of the trade war.
Apple's dividend doesn't have a particularly high yield -- at 0.5%, it's well below the average yield for the S&P 500. However, management has been hiking the payout slowly and steadily every year for more than a decade, demonstrating its commitment to rewarding shareholders.
American Express: 15.9% of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio
Buffett loves financial stocks, but American Express is his favorite. He appreciates its global brand and excellent management, and he tends to favor companies with varied earnings streams.
As a bank that targets more prosperous individuals and small businesses, as well as a credit card network with fee-paying customers, American Express has several levers it can push to make money, and its excellent reputation and premium products attract affluent consumers whose finances tend to be more resilient even when the broader economy is under pressure.
It has successfully captured a younger cohort of consumers who are driving its growth today and represent its future potential. Millennials and Gen Z customers accounted for 35% of its total U.S. consumer services billed business in the first quarter, and sales from that cohort increased by 14%, in comparison with a 7% overall gain.
American Express continues to generate robust sales growth despite the challenging macroeconomic environment. Sales rose 8% year over year in the first quarter (on a currency-neutral basis) and earnings per share (EPS) rose 9% to $3.64. Delinquency ratios have stayed at 1.3%, with net write-offs at 2.1%.CEO Stephen Squeri credited that to the company's stellar risk management, which it has developed over its 150 years of operation, and its high-quality customers.
American Express' dividend yields 1% at the current share price, and it's growing and reliable.
Coca-Cola: 10.2% of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio
Coca-Cola stock is currently the longest-tenured holding in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, and it's crushing the market this year.
Investors consider it a safe stock because the company sells some of the world's favorite beverages, and people will continue to drink them even in times of economic uncertainty. With a portfolio of about 200 brands, it has something for everyone, although its core Coke-branded franchises drive its high sales.
It has demonstrated strength over the past few years despite economic volatility, and after restructuring and slashing the brand portfolio from about 400 brands pre-pandemic, it has become more efficient and agile, and better able to weather the current storms.
One factor that particularly favors Coca-Cola this year is that it has limited exposure to tariffs. Most of its products are produced and bottled in or near the countries in which they are sold, so it doesn't rely as much on imports or exports. CEO James Quincey said that the impact of new tariffs would be minimal and that the company has many ways to offset those higher costs. This is how investors can test the company's resilience, and it's a manifestation of what Buffett has long praised it for.
The dividend is a major part of that, too. Coca-Cola is a Dividend King with 63 years of consecutive payout increases, a streak that's hard to top. At the current share price, the dividend yields 2.7% -- more than double the S&P 500's average yield. Coca-Cola isn't a growth stock, but it offers incredible value, reliable passive income, and protection for challenging times.
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Coca Cola - >>> This Warren Buffett Dividend Stock Is Crushing the S&P 500. Here's Why It's Still Worth Buying in June for Passive Income.
Motley Fool
by Daniel Foelber
May 28, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-dividend-stock-crushing-223200576.html
Folks often turn to Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway for investment ideas. And for good reason, as Berkshire Hathaway achieved a compound annual gain of 19.9% between 1965 and 2024 compared to 10.4% for the S&P 500.
But a lot has changed in the last few decades, as the most valuable companies today are tech stocks like Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple -- not big oil companies and industrials like in the past. Berkshire's bold bet on Apple stock showed that it is willing to adapt with the times and adjust its portfolio to include more tech stocks. However, Berkshire has also been a net seller of public equities, growing its position in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities to record highs and focusing more on companies it controls rather than buying shares of public companies.
One position that has remained steadfast through all the changes is Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). In fact, Berkshire hasn't sold any shares of Coke in over 25 years. Despite keeping its position unchanged, Berkshire has gradually owned a larger share of Coke thanks to the company's stock buybacks. Today, Coke is Berkshire's third-largest holding behind Apple and American Express.
Here's why Coca-Cola is crushing the S&P 500 in 2025 and why the dividend stock could still be worth buying in June.
Coke continues to deliver on expectations
In February, Coke reported 2024 results and provided 2025 guidance of organic revenue growth of 5% to 6% and earnings per share (EPS) growth of 2% to 3%. The guidance wasn't great, but at least Coke was still expecting some growth while peers like PepsiCo continue to see intense strain on consumer spending and weakening pricing power.
However, market dynamics changed between early February and when Coke reported its first-quarter 2025 results in late April. Tariffs are affecting global supply chains -- and Coke is a global business with higher sales outside North America than within. However, Coke has a distributed and localized supply chain consisting of bottling partnerships that help Coke quickly adapt and pivot as needed.
Coke's strong beverage lineup -- with industry-leading brands across nonalcoholic beverage categories, including water, sparkling water, sports drinks, and juice, as well as health-conscious brands like Fairlife -- allows the company to cater to consumer preferences, which can vary based on geography.
In its latest quarter, Coke achieved a 6% increase in organic revenue, the high end of its long-term target range. Coke also notched a 1% increase in year-over-year EPS despite a 5% currency headwind. Coke's strong results and competitive advantages gave the company the confidence needed to reaffirm its full-year guidance on both organic revenue growth and EPS despite tariff risks, currency headwinds, and pressures on sales volume due to challenged consumer spending.
Coke can afford its growing payout
Coke's beverage lineup and ability to execute even during challenging periods make the company well positioned to steadily grow its dividend over time. In February, Coke raised its dividend by 5.2% to an annualized rate of $2.04 per share -- marking the 63rd consecutive year Coke boosted its payout.
Based on Coke's $2.88 in 2024 EPS and guidance for 2% to 3% EPS growth in 2025, Coke is on track for a payout ratio of about 69% -- which is decent for a reliable dividend-paying company with a fairly recession-resistant business model.
Coke's valuation is also reasonable, as $2.95 in 2025 EPS would imply a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.3 -- which is good for a rock-solid company in a non-cyclical industry.
A stock you can count on, no matter what the market is doing
Coke checks all the boxes for a reliable dividend stock to buy in June for passive income. Coke is outperforming the S&P 500 in 2025 because the company's results and guidance showcase tariff resilience and Coke's competitive advantages.
Coke has an impeccable track record of raising its dividend and generates plenty of earnings to afford the payout. Coke also has an attractive dividend yield of 2.8%, making it a good choice for retirees looking to supplement income.
Add it all up, and it's easy to see why Buffett has confidently held Coke for decades and why the company still has what it takes to serve a foundational role in Berkshire Hathaway's public equity portfolio.
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>>> UPS might not be able to deliver reliable income
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-ultra-high-yield-dividend-123800415.html
UPS has been a very reliable dividend stock over the past quarter century. The global logistics company has either maintained or increased its dividend every year since going public in 1999. In the press release announcing its latest dividend payment earlier this month, the company stated that "commitment to the dividend is one of UPS's core principles and a hallmark of the company's financial strength."
However, there are growing concerns about whether UPS might need to cut its payout. Its free cash flow has declined from $2.3 billion in last year's first quarter to $1.5 billion this year because of the impact of tariffs on global shipping volumes. That's just enough to cover its nearly $1.4 billion dividend outlay. Meanwhile, the company recently lost some of its business with Amazon to rival FedEx. While UPS has said that this is a lower-margin business that's not very profitable, its stock has been dropping in recent months because of concerns it would lose this business, which would put additional pressure on its margins and earnings growth. Given all its issues, UPS seems a bit too risky as an income stock right now.
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>>> HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heico-corporation-hei-most-crowded-200509519.html
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67
Short Interest: 4.02%
HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) is an aerospace and defense company. Its stock has outperformed the market so far this year, but a high short interest is keeping investors on edge. HEI trades at a PE of 65, above its 5-year average of 60.4. This high valuation is in part driving the short sellers’ confidence, though the hedge funds aren’t buying the stock without reason either.
HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) is one of those stocks where the active management itself has a stake. The Mendelson family has been running the company for well over three decades and hasn’t done a bad job. Moreover, the stock incentives structure for employees means every employee feels a part of the company, preferring to take stock when given the opportunity.
It is the future growth that is keeping the valuation high in HEICO’s case. The company’s Flight Support Group has grown at a long-term average of 7% while other segments have shown even better growth in the recent past. Operating margins continue to go up, once again demonstrating the management’s abilities. So, what are the short sellers looking at in the stock?
HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) has a solid business, and its growth rate is impressive. However, the October quarter last year failed to deliver the expected numbers and could well have raised some short-term concerns. The management pinned it on inventory destocking, and short sellers are possibly thinking the high valuation wasn’t justified. The stock fell considerably in the months after that earnings announcement, but has almost regained all the losses, mainly due to the proven strength of the business.
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>>> United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), a package delivery and logistics provider, offers transportation and delivery services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery services for express letters, documents, packages and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides small package operations in Europe, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and Africa, Canada and Latin America, and Asia.
The company offers a range of guaranteed day- and time-definite international shipping services; day-definite services; cross-border ground package delivery; contract-only, e-commerce solutions for non-urgent, and cross-border shipments; and international service for urgent and palletized shipments. It also provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, contract logistics, custom brokerage and insurance, mail services, healthcare logistics, distribution, and post-sales services. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/UPS/profile/
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>>> Warren Buffett Is Buying a Secret Stock Again -- and Based on Clues, This Is the Company I Believe He's Building a Position In
Motley Fool
by Sean Williams
May 19, 2025
https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/05/19/warren-buffett-is-buying-secret-stock-again-clues/
Key Points
Berkshire Hathaway published its Form 13F on May 15, which highlighted Warren Buffett's first-quarter buying and selling activity, as well as pointed to at least one stock with confidential treatment.
Confidential treatment allows Buffett to invest in a company at a favorable price without other investors piling in and driving up the premium.
An assortment of clues suggests a potential reunion with a former Berkshire Hathaway holding.
For the first time since 2023, the Oracle of Omaha is using the confidential tag to build a stake in a company without investors knowing which stock it is.
There's perhaps no event more anticipated by investors than the quarterly unveiling of what Berkshire Hathaway's mastermind CEO Warren Buffett has been up to on the investing front.
No later than 45 calendar days following the end to a quarter, institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management (AUM) are required to file Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 13F provides investors with a concise snapshot of what Wall Street's leading money managers have been buying and selling. With the Oracle of Omaha overseeing nearly $287 billion in AUM at Berkshire Hathaway, his company is absolutely required to file a 13F.
The filing deadline for first-quarter trading activity was May 15 -- and Buffett's company has a knack for filing its 13F after the closing bell on the deadline day.
As Berkshire Hathaway's first-quarter cash flow statement portended, it was a fairly active quarter. Buffett more than doubled his company's stake in alcoholic beverage company Constellation Brands (STZ) and continued to add to brand-name consumer favorite Domino's Pizza. On the other hand, Berkshire's chief further pared down his company's stake in Bank of America (BAC -0.32%) and completely sold out of Citigroup.
But it's not these now-published moves that are raising eyebrows on Wall Street. Rather, it's the confidential treatment tag that was applied to Berkshire Hathaway's latest 13F.
Warren Buffett is secretly building a position in a currently unknown company
From time to time, prominent money managers will request permission from regulators to forgo reporting the entirety of their respective funds' trading activity in order to quietly build a position in one or more investments. Since investors tend to ride Buffett's coattails and pile into any stock(s) he purchases, not disclosing which stock(s) he's buying should allow the Oracle of Omaha to build up Berkshire's stake at a more favorable price.
The last time Buffett leaned on the confidential treatment tag was following the midpoint of 2023. Berkshire's 13Fs for the third and fourth quarters of 2023 pointed to Buffett secretly building up his company's stake in a large financial stock, with Berkshire's 13F for the first quarter of 2024 revealing this company to be property & casualty insurer Chubb (CB). Buffett further increased Berkshire's holdings in Chubb following the eventual reveal.
Prior to Chubb, Buffett's reliance on confidential filings was rare. In 2020, he used this tag to quickly build multibillion-dollar positions in telecom titan Verizon Communications and integrated oil and gas giant Chevron, the latter of which remains one of Berkshire's top-five holdings by market value. A decade ago, he also used a confidential filing to build up a stake in Phillips 66.
The all-important question is: Which stock(s) is Warren Buffett buying?
Though there's no way to know this without direct word from the Oracle of Omaha himself or via Berkshire's 13Fs, there are some clues that allow for educated guesses to be made.
The Oracle of Omaha left us some clues about the secret stock he's buying for Berkshire
The biggest clue of what Berkshire's head honcho is up to can be found in Berkshire Hathaway's first-quarter operating results. On page 8, under "Investments in equity securities," you'll see a cost basis comparison between Dec. 31, 2024 and March 31, 2025 for three categories:
Banks, insurance and finance: $15.707 billion cost basis on 12/31 vs. $14.268 billion on 3/31.
Consumer products: $12.658 billion costs basis on 12/31 vs. $13.76 billion on 3/31.
Commercial, industrial and other: $47.141 billion cost basis on 12/31 vs. $49.097 billion on 3/31.
The decline in financials directly corresponds to Buffett's ongoing selling activity in Bank of America and the jettisoning of Citigroup stock. Meanwhile, the bulk of the cost-basis increase in consumer products can be explained by Berkshire acquiring approximately $1.1 billion worth of Constellation Brands in the March-ended quarter. Thus, Buffett's confidential stock must reside in the "commercial, industrial and other" segment.
Since we don't know the specific cost bases of most Berkshire investments, I "guestimated" (technical term here, folks) the average share price during the first quarter of the commercial and industrial companies Buffett's company bought and sold. For example, I came up with Berkshire spending roughly $285 million to add to its stake in Pool Corp., along with around $36 million for Occidental Petroleum and approximately $21 million for HEICO.
Based on this data, it suggests Buffett spent north of $1.6 billion piling into this secret stock during the first quarter. Given that Berkshire would have to report stakes in excess of 5% of all outstanding shares in a company, this signals that Berkshire's confidential stock is a large company -- likely in excess of $50 billion in market cap.
The last tidbit of information we get is Warren Buffett's unwavering desire to get a good deal. He's such a diehard value investor that he's gone cold turkey on buying back shares of his own company for nine consecutive months after spending nearly $78 billion to repurchase shares spanning 24 quarters (July 2018 – June 2024). You'd need to be looking for a company with a clear price dislocation amid a historically pricey stock market.
This could very well be Warren Buffett's confidential treatment stock
Admittedly, there are some broad-stroke assumptions to make here. For instance, while technology is encompassed under "other," Buffett isn't exactly tech savvy, which makes this sector highly unlikely. The same can be said for the healthcare sector.
Furthermore, taking into consideration how consistently Berkshire's chief has added to "indefinite" holding Occidental Petroleum since the beginning of 2022, I'd shy away from the idea that it's another drilling company that's caught his attention. I believe this narrows things down even further to the industrial sector.
President Donald Trump's tariff-induced market sell-off during the first quarter created a number of potentially intriguing entry points in industrial stocks for Buffett. The problem is there are three dozen industrial companies with market caps north of $50 billion, so it's a bit hard to really narrow things down... until you get into valuation.
Only three industrial stocks have forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios below 15, which would be a minimum line in the sand for "value" and price dislocations in the current market:
FedEx: forward P/E of 11.2
United Parcel Service (UPS): forward P/E of 12.5
Paccar: forward P/E of 12.8
The one factor that keeps me from thinking it's Paccar is simply the company's share price, which has rocketed higher over the last three years. Thus, my thought process leads me to believe Buffett is intrigued by a big-time logistics player.
While FedEx is, currently, the cheaper of the two, based on forward P/E, it's UPS -- a former Berkshire Hathaway holding -- that checks all the right boxes for Berkshire's chief.
UPS stock was absolutely clobbered in late January when the company outlined plans to reduce its volume with its top customer, Amazon (AMZN). Though this might sound a bit perplexing given the volume Amazon's online marketplace can generate for a logistics giant like UPS, it makes perfect sense if you focus on the company's longer-term vision. Whereas Amazon's deliveries are generally low-margin, UPS aims to focus its attention on higher margin services. In other words, you have a clear price dislocation due to a short-term concern that doesn't alter UPS's long-term growth prospects.
UPS also offers a sustainable competitive edge given its well-known brown trucks and its network that no other logistics company has matched. Few things excite Buffett more than a price dislocation in a brand-name business with a moat.
The cherry on top is that UPS has a hearty capital-return program. It returned $5.9 billion to its shareholders last year through dividends and share repurchases, and has a dividend yield of 6.5%!
When Buffett sold Berkshire's remaining UPS stake in 2023, shares of the company were hovering in the $170s or $180s. As of this writing, shares are trading hands for around $100, which is a level last seen consistently more than five years ago.
If I had to guess which company is the secret stock Warren Buffett is buying, I'd wager on a reunion with UPS.
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>>> Amazon.com -
5-19-25
https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/265114/5-warren-buffett-stocks-to-watch-after-berkshire-hathaways-latest-filing-.aspx
Morningstar Rating: 4 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
Industry: Internet Retail
Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t own a ton of Amazon’s stock; in fact, it’s only been invested in Amazon since the first quarter of 2019. Buffett has admitted in the past that while he always admired Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, he was reluctant to invest in the company early: He couldn’t imagine it would turn into the retail juggernaut that it did. Amazon has carved out its wide economic moat not just on its retail business but also on Amazon Web Services. The stock looks attractive, trading 12% below our $240 fair value estimate.
Morningstar senior analyst Dan Romanoff said this after Amazon’s first-quarter earnings release:
Amazon reported first-quarter results that beat the high end of guidance on both the top and bottom lines. Revenue grew by 10% year over year in constant currency to $155.7 billion, while operating margin was 11.8% versus 10.7% a year ago. Currency hurt sales growth by $1.4 billion.
Why it matters: Results were generally good, with upside broadly on the top and bottom lines, which we think is positive in the face of looming tariffs. We see some prebuying behavior ahead of tariffs, which is worth monitoring if the tariff situation persists beyond the second quarter.
The bottom line: We maintain our fair value estimate of $240 per share as we see good results in conjunction with mixed guidance, and we see shares as attractive.
Coming up: Overall guidance is mixed, with revenue solid and profitability light relative to our model. Satellite launch costs for Project Kuiper will likely pressure margins for a couple quarters, while new AWS capacity coming online later this year will have a similar impact.
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Constellation Brands -
5-19-25
https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/265114/5-warren-buffett-stocks-to-watch-after-berkshire-hathaways-latest-filing-.aspx
Morningstar Rating: 5 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
Industry: Beverages—Brewers
Berkshire Hathaway initiated a position in Constellation Brands during the fourth quarter of 2024. Constellation Brands has carved out a wide moat with its portfolio of top-selling Mexican beer brands that underpin strong brand equity and tight distributor partnerships, explains Morningstar analyst Dan Su. We expect the company’s beer brands to fuel growth, while the turnaround with its wine and spirits will take time. The stock is trading 32% beneath our $274 fair value estimate.
Here’s Su’s take on Constellation Brands after its recent earnings release.
Constellation Brands posted 2% sales growth for fiscal 2025 while adjusted earnings per share rose 11% on efficiency gains in the beer segment. For the next three years, it expects low- to mid-single-digit sales growth, below its prior midterm target of 6%-8%.
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>>> Occidental Petroleum -
5-19-25
https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/265114/5-warren-buffett-stocks-to-watch-after-berkshire-hathaways-latest-filing-.aspx
Morningstar Rating: 4 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
Industry: Oil & Gas E&P
Berkshire Hathaway owns 27% of Occidental Petroleum’s stock. Although Oxy is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers, we don’t think it has carved out an economic moat—though we believe it’s on the cusp of earning its cost of capital, adds Morningstar director Josh Aguilar. We assign Oxy a $59 fair value estimate, and shares are trading 26% below that.
Here’s Morningstar’s take on Oxy’s business:
Occidental is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers. Its upstream operations are spread across the US, Middle East, and North Africa. It has a consolidated midstream business, which provides gathering, processing, and transport services to the upstream segment, and it holds a majority equity interest in Western Midstream. The portfolio also includes a chemicals business, which produces caustic soda and PVC. The latter segment benefits from low energy and ethylene costs, while its profitability is determined by the strength of the broader economy.
The $55 billion Anadarko deal was a huge undertaking for Oxy, which itself had an enterprise value of about $50 billion at the time. The cash portion was partly financed with a $10 billion preferred equity investment from Berkshire Hathaway along with the proceeds from the sale of Anadarko’s Mozambique assets, which Total purchased for $3.9 billion in late 2019. While these arrangements left Oxy with a heavy debt burden prior to the pandemic, drastic measures helped management steady the ship, and the firm took full advantage of the subsequent rebound in commodity prices, generating enough cash to fully repair the balance sheet and pave the way for significant capital returns. The firm is obligated to match distributions above $4 per share annually with preferred equity redemptions.
The midstream segment also includes Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which partners with third parties to implement carbon capture, storage, and utilization projects. This activity differentiates Occidental from most peers, which merely focus on curtailing their own emissions. Oxy’s experience sequestering carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery potentially enables it to go further. Management has ambitious plans to develop direct air capture facilities that should also generate incremental revenue.
Finally, Oxy closed the roughly $12 billion CrownRock acquisition in 2024, which provides Oxy a high-graded asset portfolio, allowing Oxy to add significant production capacity in the Midland Basin. While this acquisition comes at an elevated capital cost, we think it will help create firmwide operating efficiencies.
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>>> 5 Warren Buffett Stocks to Watch After Berkshire Hathaway’s Latest FilingPlus, which stocks Berkshire bought and sold during the first quarter of 2025.
Morningstar
by Susan Dziubinski
19 May, 2025
https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/265114/5-warren-buffett-stocks-to-watch-after-berkshire-hathaways-latest-filing-.aspx
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A BRK.B just filed its 13F for the first quarter of 2025. Here’s a look at the stocks that the team bought and sold during the first quarter and several undervalued Warren Buffett stocks to buy from Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio today.
What Stocks Berkshire Hathaway Bought Last Quarter
Stock
New Position or Add to Existing?
Morningstar Rating for Stocks (as of May 14, 2025)
Constellation Brands STZ
Add to existing
5 stars
Domino’s Pizza DPZ
Add to existing
2 stars
Heico Corp HEI
Add to existing
2 stars
Occidental Petroleum OXY
Add to existing
4 stars
Pool Corp POOL
Add to existing
3 stars (quantitative rating)
Sirius XM SIRI
Add to existing
4 stars
Verisign VRSN
Add to existing
1 star
Worries about DeepSeek’s AI disruption and policy uncertainty around tariffs briefly sent the US stock market into correction territory during the first quarter.
What buying did Warren Buffett and his colleagues do during the downturn? Not much.
They didn’t add any new positions to the portfolio during the first quarter, though they did add to several existing positions, including Occidental Petroleum OXY, Verisign VRSN, Sirius XM SIRI, Heico Corp HEI, and Domino’s Pizza DPZ. Notably, Buffett and team doubled Berkshire’s stake in Pool Corp POOL and Constellation Brands STZ.
Apple AAPL remained the largest holding in Berkshire’s publicly traded portfolio at the end of the first quarter.
What Stocks Berkshire Hathaway Sold Last Quarter
Stock
Scaled Back or Sold Entirely?
Morningstar Rating for Stocks (as of May 14, 2025)
Bank of America BAC
Scaled back
3 stars
Capital One Financial COF
Scaled back
3 stars
Charter Communications CHTR
Scaled back
4 stars
Citigroup C
Sold entirely
3 stars
Davita DVA
Scaled back
3 stars
Liberty Media Corp C Liberty Formula One FWONK
Scaled back
3 stars (quantitative rating)
NU Holdings NU
Sold entirely
3 stars (quantitative rating)
T-Mobile TMUS
Scaled back
3 stars
Buffett and his team continued to reduce Berkshire’s exposure to the US financial-services industry during the first quarter, scaling back the portfolio’s positions in Bank of America BAC and Capital One Financial COF and selling what remained of its position in Citigroup C.
Also during the first quarter, Berkshire continued to trim its positions in Charter Communications CHTR, Liberty Media Corp C Liberty Formula One FWONK, and T-Mobile TMUS, just as it did during the fourth quarter of 2024. It scaled back in Davita DVA and sold its entire position in NU Holdings NU, too.
The 5 Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy Now
Most of the publicly traded stocks held by Berkshire Hathaway are fairly valued or overvalued today, according to Morningstar’s metrics. Here are several undervalued stocks from its portfolio that look most attractive to Morningstar’s analysts.
Ally Financial ALLY
Amazon.com AMZN
Constellation Brands STZ
Kraft Heinz KHC
Occidental Petroleum OXY
Here’s a little bit about why we like each of these undervalued stocks, along with some key metrics for each. All data is as of May 14, 2025.
Ally Financial
Morningstar Rating: 4 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
Industry: Credit Services
Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 9% of Ally Financial’s stock. While Ally offers auto insurance, commercial lending, mortgage finance, and credit cards, auto loans remain its core focus and largest source of revenue. A slower auto market and higher credit costs have weighed on recent results, but Ally’s improved funding structure should lead to better returns than the firm has historically delivered. The stock trades 20% below our $45 fair value estimate.
Here’s what Morningstar analyst Michael Miller had to say about the stock after the company’s first-quarter earnings release:
Adjusted for $495 million in one-time portfolio repositioning expenses, Ally Financial reported $0.58 in adjusted earnings per share, up from $0.41 last year. These results translate to an 8.3% return on average equity.
Why it matters: This was a messy quarter for Ally, with portfolio repositioning losses, the sale of its credit card business, and elevated weather-related insurance expenses all occurring at once. However, the firm’s underlying results show improvement as it recovers from a string of poor results.
• There were clear signs that the firm is starting to turn a corner on its credit issues, which have been a headwind for the bank. Retail auto net charge-offs fell to 2.12% of total loans from 2.27% last year, the first annual decline since 2021.
• We expect credit losses to remain elevated in 2025, but the firm’s credit quality should continue to improve over time as the effect of its tighter underwriting flows through. This will bear some monitoring given tariff-related uncertainty, but higher car prices are a positive for the firm’s credit quality.
The bottom line: We maintain our $45 fair value estimate for no-moat-rated Ally. We see the shares as undervalued at the current price as we believe the market is focusing too much on the firm’s recent results, which have been cyclically depressed, and not the firm’s long-term profitability.
• We expect the firm’s net interest margin to expand in 2025. As the firm’s lower-yielding loans and mortgages roll off into higher-yielding loans, this will provide a natural tailwind, while the firm’s diminished deposit needs give it room to be more aggressive on pricing.
Long view: We hold a favorable view of Ally’s decision to exit its ancillary lending categories, like residential mortgages, to focus on retail auto lending and corporate finance. We expect the more focused and rational strategy for its balance sheet to lead to better long-term profitability and returns.
Michael Miller, Morningstar analyst
Read Morningstar’s full report on Ally Financial.
Amazon.com
Morningstar Rating: 4 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
Industry: Internet Retail
Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t own a ton of Amazon’s stock; in fact, it’s only been invested in Amazon since the first quarter of 2019. Buffett has admitted in the past that while he always admired Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, he was reluctant to invest in the company early: He couldn’t imagine it would turn into the retail juggernaut that it did. Amazon has carved out its wide economic moat not just on its retail business but also on Amazon Web Services. The stock looks attractive, trading 12% below our $240 fair value estimate.
Morningstar senior analyst Dan Romanoff said this after Amazon’s first-quarter earnings release:
Amazon reported first-quarter results that beat the high end of guidance on both the top and bottom lines. Revenue grew by 10% year over year in constant currency to $155.7 billion, while operating margin was 11.8% versus 10.7% a year ago. Currency hurt sales growth by $1.4 billion.
Why it matters: Results were generally good, with upside broadly on the top and bottom lines, which we think is positive in the face of looming tariffs. We see some prebuying behavior ahead of tariffs, which is worth monitoring if the tariff situation persists beyond the second quarter.
The bottom line: We maintain our fair value estimate of $240 per share as we see good results in conjunction with mixed guidance, and we see shares as attractive.
Coming up: Overall guidance is mixed, with revenue solid and profitability light relative to our model. Satellite launch costs for Project Kuiper will likely pressure margins for a couple quarters, while new AWS capacity coming online later this year will have a similar impact.
Dan Romanoff, Morningstar senior analyst
Read Morningstar’s full report on Amazon.
Constellation Brands
Morningstar Rating: 5 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
Industry: Beverages—Brewers
Berkshire Hathaway initiated a position in Constellation Brands during the fourth quarter of 2024. Constellation Brands has carved out a wide moat with its portfolio of top-selling Mexican beer brands that underpin strong brand equity and tight distributor partnerships, explains Morningstar analyst Dan Su. We expect the company’s beer brands to fuel growth, while the turnaround with its wine and spirits will take time. The stock is trading 32% beneath our $274 fair value estimate.
Here’s Su’s take on Constellation Brands after its recent earnings release.
Constellation Brands posted 2% sales growth for fiscal 2025 while adjusted earnings per share rose 11% on efficiency gains in the beer segment. For the next three years, it expects low- to mid-single-digit sales growth, below its prior midterm target of 6%-8%.
Dan Su, Morningstar analyst
Kraft Heinz
Morningstar Rating: 5 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
Industry: Packaged Foods
Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 26% of Kraft Heinz’s stock. The packaged-food manufacturer has revamped its road map and is now focused on consistently driving profitable growth. We think Kraft Heinz stock is worth $53 per share, and shares are trading at a 49% discount to that fair value today.
Here’s what Morningstar director Erin Lash thinks of Kraft Heinz’s first-quarter results:
Kraft Heinz’s first-quarter organic sales slumped 4.7%, reflecting a 5.6% hit from lower volumes and unfavorable mix. Despite this, the adjusted operating margin ticked up 30 basis points to 20%.
Erin Lash, Morningstar director
Occidental Petroleum
Morningstar Rating: 4 stars
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: None
Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
Industry: Oil & Gas E&P
Berkshire Hathaway owns 27% of Occidental Petroleum’s stock. Although Oxy is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers, we don’t think it has carved out an economic moat—though we believe it’s on the cusp of earning its cost of capital, adds Morningstar director Josh Aguilar. We assign Oxy a $59 fair value estimate, and shares are trading 26% below that.
Here’s Morningstar’s take on Oxy’s business:
Occidental is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers. Its upstream operations are spread across the US, Middle East, and North Africa. It has a consolidated midstream business, which provides gathering, processing, and transport services to the upstream segment, and it holds a majority equity interest in Western Midstream. The portfolio also includes a chemicals business, which produces caustic soda and PVC. The latter segment benefits from low energy and ethylene costs, while its profitability is determined by the strength of the broader economy.
The $55 billion Anadarko deal was a huge undertaking for Oxy, which itself had an enterprise value of about $50 billion at the time. The cash portion was partly financed with a $10 billion preferred equity investment from Berkshire Hathaway along with the proceeds from the sale of Anadarko’s Mozambique assets, which Total purchased for $3.9 billion in late 2019. While these arrangements left Oxy with a heavy debt burden prior to the pandemic, drastic measures helped management steady the ship, and the firm took full advantage of the subsequent rebound in commodity prices, generating enough cash to fully repair the balance sheet and pave the way for significant capital returns. The firm is obligated to match distributions above $4 per share annually with preferred equity redemptions.
The midstream segment also includes Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which partners with third parties to implement carbon capture, storage, and utilization projects. This activity differentiates Occidental from most peers, which merely focus on curtailing their own emissions. Oxy’s experience sequestering carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery potentially enables it to go further. Management has ambitious plans to develop direct air capture facilities that should also generate incremental revenue.
Finally, Oxy closed the roughly $12 billion CrownRock acquisition in 2024, which provides Oxy a high-graded asset portfolio, allowing Oxy to add significant production capacity in the Midland Basin. While this acquisition comes at an elevated capital cost, we think it will help create firmwide operating efficiencies.
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Summary of Berkshire stock changes - 2025 - Q-1
Constellation Brands (STZ) - add to existing
Domino's Pizza (DPZ) - add to existing
Heico (HEI) - add to exisitng
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) - add to existing
Pool (POOL) - add to existing
Sirius XM (SIRI) - add to exisitng
Verisign (VRSN) - add to existing
_________________
Bank of America (BAC) - reduced
Capital One Financial (COF) - reduced
Charter Communications (CHTR) - reduced
Citigroup (C) - sold entirely
Davita (DVA) - reduced
Liberty Media Formula One (FWONK) - reduced
Nu Holdings (NU) - sold entirely
T-Mobile (TMUS) - reduced
https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/265114/5-warren-buffett-stocks-to-watch-after-berkshire-hathaways-latest-filing-.aspx
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>>> Formula One Group (FWONK), together with its subsidiaries, engages in the motorsports business in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company holds commercial rights for the FIA Formula One World Championship, an annual nine-month long motor race-based competition in which teams compete for the Constructors' championship and drivers compete for the Drivers' championship. It is also involved in the provision of ticket and hospitality packages to sports and entertainment events; licensing, television production, and other ancillary activities; and provision and sale of freight, logistical, and travel services, as well as the operation of Formula 2, Formula 3 and F1 Academy series. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. Formula One Group is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FWONK/profile/
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>>> BYD Company Limited (BYDDF), together with its subsidiaries, engages in automobiles and batteries business in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Mobile Handset Components, Assembly Service and Other Products; and Automobiles and Related Products and Other Products.
The Mobile Handset Components, Assembly Service and Other Products segment manufactures and sells mobile handset components, such as housings and electronic components; and offers assembly services.
The Automobiles and Related Products and Other Products segment is involved in the manufacturing and sale of automobiles, and auto-related molds and components; rail transport and related business; and provision of automobile leasing and after sales services, automobile power batteries, lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaic, and iron battery products. The company develops urban rail transportation business. BYD Company Limited was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BYDDF/profile/
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OXY - >>> This Warren Buffett Stock to Own Forever Is a Buy Today
Buffett expects to own some stocks indefinitely—and one of those stocks looks cheap today.
Morningstar
by Susan Dziubinski
May 13, 2025
https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/this-warren-buffett-stock-own-forever-is-buy-today-2
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class A
(BRK.A)
Coca-Cola Co
(KO)
Occidental Petroleum Corp
(OXY)
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B
(BRK.B)
American Express Co
(AXP)
Susan Dziubinski: Hi, I’m Susan Dziubinski with Morningstar. Warren Buffett surprised many earlier this month when he said he’d step down as CEO of the Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A BRK.B at the end of this year. Greg Abel will step into the CEO spot on Jan. 1, 2026, but Warren Buffett will retain his role as Berkshire Hathaway chairman.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest investors of all time, Buffett has had an uncanny ability to identify businesses that have clear competitive advantages and that are likely to be able to maintain those advantages over a very long time.
In fact, in a recent shareholder letter, Buffett identified a few stocks in Berkshire’s publicly traded portfolio that he expects Berkshire to hold indefinitely. What makes these stocks so special? Buffett says these companies make him comfortable because they are hugely successful in their base businesses. Plus, the products and services that these companies provide “travel,” meaning that they’ve become worldwide brands and essentials of the world we live in.
Buffett’s list of forever stocks includes longtime holdings like Coca-Cola KO, which has maintained a wide economic moat thanks to its sizable cost advantages and valuable intangible assets. American Express AXP also qualifies as a forever stock for Buffett. Amex’s closed-loop system benefits from high switching costs and the network effect, which fortify the company’s wide moat.
But neither Coke nor American Express look like buys today from Morningstar’s perspective. Both are fairly overvalued relative to our fair value estimates. Yet there is one Buffett forever stock that looks very undervalued to Morningstar today.
This Warren Buffett Stock to Own Forever Is a Buy Today
Occidental Petroleum OXY
What stock is that? It’s Occidental Petroleum OXY. Berkshire owns more than 28% of the company’s outstanding shares. Oxy is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers. Buffett thinks the company’s leadership position in carbon capture initiatives could bear fruit, too. Morningstar doesn’t think Oxy has carved out an economic moat, due largely to the expensive acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, which dented Oxy’s profitability. But management has been deleveraging the company’s balance sheet, and we think the books look better than they have in several years and that the company is on the cusp of consistently earning its cost of capital. The stock looks cheap today. We think Oxy’s stock is worth $59 per share.
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https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176189530
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>>> What Does Berkshire Hathaway Own?
Motley Fool
By Frank Bass
Updated Jan 28, 2025
https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/stocks/what-does-berkshire-hathaway-own/?utm_source=yahoo-host-full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article&referring_guid=4afc7ef3-7684-46ef-95cb-904f48908c12
Key Points
Berkshire Hathaway has $290 billion in 46 companies, focusing on long-term success.
Over 70% of its portfolio is in just six stocks, including Apple and American Express.
Berkshire reduced stocks by $133 billion but still holds $325 billion in cash.
What does Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.45%)(BRK.B -0.59%) own? Shares in a surprisingly small number of companies, as it turns out. Warren Buffett's Nebraska-based holding company has $290 billion invested in only 46 publicly traded companies. Read on to find out more about the Oracle of Omaha’s holdings.
Berkshire Hathaway is known for its outstanding return on investments. If you'd bought Berkshire Class A stock when Buffett took over the company in the mid-1960s, your return through 2023 would have been about 4,380,000%.
The return is even more impressive when you consider that Berkshire has accomplished it with relatively few investments. Instead, Buffett focused on a long-term buy-and-hold strategy, buying stocks in well-managed companies with a good chance of succeeding and holding them over the long term.
As Buffett once put it in a letter to his shareholders, "Never count on making a good sale."
Still, Buffett hasn't totally sat on his hands over the last year. Berkshire has been trimming its holdings lately. Berkshire sent a shot across the bow of Wall Street, reducing its stock holdings by $133 billion in the first nine months of 2024.
According to the company's Form 13F, Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks over the last six quarters. Meanwhile, its cash holdings have grown to $325 billion, more on the sidelines than Berkshire has ever reserved.
The increasing amount of cash held by Berkshire, however, doesn’t mean it's getting out of the stock-picking business. Around 70% of the company's portfolio is invested in just six stocks.
Major Berkshire holdings
1. Apple
Apple (AAPL 5.18%): Buffett has joked that Berkshire is a tech company simply because of the massive number of Apple shares it owns. At the end of 2023, Berkshire held more than 915 million shares of the tech giant, with an estimated value of $168 billion -- more than five times the value of any other holding and almost 6% of the company.
Even so, the company trimmed its Apple holdings in the fourth quarter of 2023, selling about 1%. The pace of selling accelerated rapidly during the first nine months of 2024, as Buffett reduced his Apple holdings by two-thirds to an estimated value of $71.1 billion.
Despite the sales, Apple is still Buffett's largest holding, making up almost 25% of the Berkshire portfolio.
2. American Express
American Express (AXP 4.19%): Through the first nine months of 2024, American Express accounted for 15.3% of Berkshire's assets, making it Buffett's second-largest holding. It's another financial stock that Buffett has touted over the years, largely because it benefits from both facilitating transactions and loaning money.
The financial giant does especially well when the economy is growing, but its focus on well-off consumers -- who are less likely to change their spending when the economy isn't doing so well -- helps it to thrive in most economic climates.
Shares of the bank soared in 2024, rising 58.4% on strong earnings per share (EPS) growth and the addition of about 3 million credit cards to its already robust network.
3. Bank of America
Bank of America (BAC 3.35%): Berkshire reported cutting almost one-quarter of the 1 billion shares of Bank of America stock that it owned at the end of 2023. Buffett has been a believer in bank stocks for many years, and Bank of America's size and scale have made it an attractive stock for investors.
Even though the banking industry as faced headwinds from charge-offs rising and high interest rates putting a damper on loan demand, the bank is still Berkshire's third-largest holding, with shares valued at $34 billion. As inflation slows, however, the bank may see a rebound from consumer spending even as competition intensifies.
4. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (KO -2.01%): The Atlanta-based beverage giant is another one of Buffett's longest-held positions. Buffett has made it clear he doesn't have any plans to sell Coca-Cola stock; the Dividend King has proven its resilience, even as inflation prompted many consumers to curb their grocery spending.
Buffett's affinity for Coca-Cola stock isn't just professional; he described himself as "one-quarter Coca-Cola" to Fortune in 2015, claiming the beverage accounts for 25% of his daily caloric intake. It's another example of one of his wise investment maxims: Buy stock in companies whose business you understand and appreciate.
Berkshire held $24.4 billion of Coca-Cola stock, or 9.3% of its outstanding shares.
5. Chevron
Chevron (CVX 1.53%): With a few exceptions, the oil and gas industry has fallen on hard times. In the 1980s, the sector made up almost 30% of the S&P 500; these days, it hovers around 3%. Despite the uncertainty prompted by a transition to low-carbon fuels, Buffett has increased his holdings in Chevron, betting that the energy industry will recover from a rough few years.
As of the third quarter of 2024, Berkshire owned about 118 million shares of Chevron, a slight drop from the previous year but still almost 6.3% of its entire portfolio and almost 7% of Chevron's outstanding shares. Chevron is the second-largest oil company in the United States.
6. Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum (OXY 3.72%): One of two energy stocks owned by Berkshire, Occidental is heavily focused on upstream production, which makes it highly susceptible to falling crude oil prices. It also reported $24.1 billion in net debt, a not-inconsiderable sum even for a major oil company. In addition, disruption caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Middle East tensions have failed to make a substantial dent in the global supply.
Buffett's bet on Occidental, however, is looking smarter by the day. An increasing global appetite for oil and a lack of exploration make it possible that there will be a gap between supply and demand.
Buffett owns about $15.1 billion in Occidental stock, more than 28% of its outstanding shares. He picked up 8.9 million additional shares in the week before Christmas 2024 as the oil company's stock sagged 24% for the year.
Berkshire Hathaway Holdings, Jan. 15, 2025. Source: CNBC.
Company Symbol Holdings Stake Price Value Portfolio %
Apple AAPL 300,000,000 2.00% $236.85 $71,055,000,000 24.50%
American Express AXP 151,610,700 21.50% $293.30 $44,467,418,310 15.30%
Bank of America BAC 766,305,462 9.99% $45.11 $34,568,039,391 11.90%
Coca-Cola KO 400,000,000 9.30% $61.07 $24,428,000,000 8.40%
Chevron CVX 118,610,534 6.60% $153.14 $18,164,017,177 6.30%
Occidental Petroleum OXY 264,178,414 28.20% $51.30 $13,552,352,638 4.70%
Moody’s MCO 24,669,778 13.60% $452.81 $11,170,722,176 3.80%
Kraft Heinz KHC 325,634,818 26.90% $28.51 $9,283,848,661 3.20%
Chubb CB 27,033,784 6.70% $257.71 $6,966,876,475 2.40%
Davita DVA 36,095,570 44.00% $153.40 $5,537,060,438 1.90%
Itochu Corp. 8001:TYO 118,331,800 7.50% $46.62 $5,516,698,752 1.90%
Mitsubishi 8058:TYO 358,492,800 8.90% $15.71 $5,633,555,710 1.90%
Mitsui & Co 8031:TYO 250,044,600 8.40% $19.40 $4,851,233,056 1.70%
Citigroup C 55,244,797 2.90% $71.40 $3,944,478,506 1.40%
Kroger KR 50,000,000 6.90% $59.12 $2,956,000,000 1.00%
VeriSign VRSN 13,289,880 13.80% $207.08 $2,752,068,350 0.90%
Visa V 8,297,460 0.40% $307.71 $2,553,211,417 0.90%
Amazon AMZN 10,000,000 0.10% $218.94 $2,189,400,000 0.80%
Sirius XM Holdings SIRI 117,468,573 34.60% $20.83 $2,446,870,376 0.80%
Marubeni Corp. 8002:TYO 141,000,200 8.50% $14.16 $1,996,281,050 0.70%
Mastercard MA 3,986,648 0.40% $504.67 $2,011,941,646 0.70%
Sumitomo Corp. 8053:TYO 101,210,400 8.40% $20.59 $2,084,272,000 0.70%
BYD Co. BYDDF 54,200,142 4.90% $32.02 $1,735,488,547 0.60%
Aon AON 4,100,000 1.90% $349.51 $1,432,991,000 0.50%
Capital One Financial COF 9,100,000 2.40% $175.29 $1,595,139,000 0.50%
Ally Financial ALLY 29,000,000 9.50% $34.19 $991,510,000 0.30%
Charter Communications CHTR 2,821,879 2.00% $334.89 $945,019,058 0.30%
Liberty Live Series C LLYVK 10,917,661 17.20% $66.48 $725,806,103 0.30%
Nu Holdings NU 86,438,997 1.80% $10.95 $946,507,017 0.30%
T-Mobile US TMUS 4,672,000 0.40% $211.30 $987,193,600 0.30%
Domino’s Pizza DPZ 1,277,256 3.70% $402.33 $513,878,406 0.20%
Liberty Formula One Series C FWONK 7,722,451 3.50% $91.23 $704,519,205 0.20%
Louisiana-Pacific LPX 5,964,793 8.50% $105.09 $626,840,096 0.20%
Heico Corp Class A HEI.A 1,049,687 1.30% $177.92 $186,760,311 0.10%
Liberty Live Series A LLYVA 4,986,588 19.50% $64.59 $322,083,719 0.10%
Atlanta Braves Holdings Series C BATRK 223,645 0.40% $36.10 $8,073,585 0.00%
Diageo DEO 227,750 0.00% $118.23 $26,926,883 0.00%
Jefferies Financial Group JEF 433,558 0.20% $71.48 $30,990,726 0.00%
Lennar Corp Class B LEN.B 152,572 0.50% $124.33 $18,969,277 0.00%
Liberty Latin America Series A LILA 2,630,792 6.50% $6.51 $17,126,456 0.00%
Liberty Latin America Series C LILAK 1,284,020 0.80% $6.48 $8,320,450 0.00%
NVR NVR 11,112 0.40% $7,845.22 $87,176,085 0.00%
Pool Corp POOL 404,057 1.10% $326.40 $131,884,205 0.00%
SPDR
S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY 39,400 0.00% $580.49 $22,871,306 0.00%
Ulta Beauty ULTA 24,203 0.10% $418.23 $10,122,421 0.00%
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO 43,000 0.00% $533.89 $22,957,270 0.00%
Other Berkshire holdings
The six stocks above make up more than 70% of Berkshire's total holdings -- but there's more. Near the end of 2024, Berkshire held billion-dollar stakes in another 19 companies, ranging from consumer staples to technology stocks. Here are some smaller holdings:
Kraft Heinz (NYSE:KHC): Buffett admits that the purchase of Kraft Heinz stock initially didn't quite work out as hoped. The company's stock fell 9% in 2023 and another 18% in 2024, even as the S&P 500 rose.
Still, Berkshire hasn't walked away from the company that provides staples ranging from Kraft Mac and Cheese to Maxwell House, and there's hope for the future. It's overhauling its logistics structure to save $2.5 billion by the end of 2027 and had already identified about $1 billion in potential savings.
Moody's (MCO 2.29%): Best known as a ratings agency, Moody's has been a part of Berkshire's portfolio for almost a quarter-century. The company has little major competition outside of S&P Global and Fitch Ratings, giving it a huge advantage and immense pricing power.
Moody's has everything that Buffett searches for in an investment: a competitive edge, strong management, a leading position, excellent profitability, strong recurring revenue, and a high free cash flow. Not including dividends, Berkshire's stake in Moody's is up more than 4,600% from its reported cost basis.
Mitsubishi (MSBHF -0.24%): On the surface, a Japanese trading house might not be one of the first investments you think about when you consider options for Berkshire Hathaway. But it's a big component of Buffett's portfolio, which now holds about 8% of the conglomerate.
Why? Easy. Like other large Berkshire holdings, Mitsubishi has been in business for a long time (since 1870), indicating stability. It's a bargain, with shares trading at roughly nine times trailing 12-month earnings. And finally, it's incredibly diversified, owning almost 1,700 companies in 10 industries, spreading risk better than most exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Mitsui & Co. (MITSF -0.49%). Buffett increased his holdings in Japan's five biggest trading houses in 2023, with Mitsui becoming his 10th-largest holding. It's one of five sogo shosha (trading houses) Buffett first bought in 2020. The company recently raised its net profit estimate for the fiscal year, based on asset sales and a promising outlook for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business.
Like Mitsubishi, Mitsui is a diversified giant that owns companies involved in chemicals, steelmaking, life insurance, construction, banking, engineering, and even brewing. Berkshire has said it hopes to increase its stake to 9.9% of each of the five major trading houses, just shy of the country's 10% approval threshold for foreign investment.
Smaller Berkshire investments
Using "small" to describe billion-dollar holdings would be laughable in almost any other context, but the sheer size of Buffett's largest holdings almost reduces these holdings to a rounding error.
Although Apple is one of the ultimate tech stocks, Buffett has also dedicated a significant amount of cash to a couple of other tech-focused companies. Berkshire has:
$2.2 billion invested in Amazon (AMZN 7.26%), holding a miniscule 0.1% of the company’s outstanding shares.
$2.7 billion in VeriSign (VRSN -1.31%), accounting for 13.8% of the company.
Besides Mitsui and Mitsubishi, Buffett also held major stakes in:
Marubeni Corp. (MARUY 1.41%), with $2 billion in stock, about 8.5% of outstanding shares.
Itochu Corp. (ITOCF 0.21%), with $5.5 billion, about 7.5% of shares.
Sumitomo Corp. (SSUM.F 0.0%), with $2.1 billion in shares, about 8.4% of outstanding shares.
Other major investments in financial stocks include:
$3.9 billion of Citigroup (C 5.02%) stock, about 2.9% of outstanding shares.
$2.6 billion in Visa (V 0.47%), 0.4% of the company.
$2 billion in Mastercard (MA 0.8%) stock, or 0.4% of outstanding shares.
$1.6 billion of Capital One (COF 6.83%), 2.4% of the company.
Buffett has made several investments in media centered on:
Liberty Formula One Series C (FWON.K 0.61%), $704.5 million or 3.5% of outstanding shares.
Liberty Live Series C (LLYV.K 2.04%), $725.8 million, about 17.2% of the company.
Liberty Live Series A (LLYV.A 2.31%), $322.1 million, or 19.5% of outstanding shares.
Liberty Latin America Series A (LILA -2.67%), $17.1 million, or 6.5% of the company.
Liberty Latin America Series C (LILA.K -3.29%), $8.3 million, or 0.8% of outstanding shares.
Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI 1.58%), with $2.4 billion in holdings, or 34.6% of the company’s outstanding shares.
It's also worth noting that Buffett has only one major healthcare holding, DaVita (DVA -0.39%), a dialysis provider that controls more than one-third of the U.S. market. The Denver-based company focuses on treating end-stage renal disease, an affliction that is becoming more common as the U.S. population ages. Buffett held more of DaVita's shares than any other stock, with $5.5 billion invested in 44% of the company's outstanding shares.
What companies could Buffett buy in the future?
It's hard to predict which stocks Berkshire Hathaway might add since Buffett favors very long-term buy-and-hold positions. The Oracle of Omaha tends to favor companies that have been around for a very long time -- like a century, in the cases of American Express and Coca-Cola.
Having said that, there may be a few options in areas where Buffett has focused, such as finance, energy, and consumer staples:
U.S. Bancorp (USB 4.4%) is one-quarter the size of Bank of America. It has $74.9 billion in market capitalization, making it the fifth-largest U.S. bank. Unlike its larger siblings in the banking industry, it was relatively unscathed by the 2007-09 financial crisis. It has a decent dividend yield of almost 4.2% and trades at 14.7 times this year's expected earnings.
Buffett values stable companies with predictable revenue, which means Enbridge (ENB -4.08%) might be a good fit if he decides to add to Berkshire's energy holdings. The Canadian pipeline and utility company reports that 98% of its earnings come from cost-of-service arrangements and long-term contracts, which means it's not affected by oil and gas prices.
If Buffett is searching for an established, well-run company with a lengthy history, he might consider adding IBM (IBM 0.66%) shares to the Berkshire portfolio. True, Big Blue struggled over much of the last decade, selling off low-margin units for cash that it then spent on buybacks rather than business improvements. The company appears to be stabilizing, though, buoyed by investments in AI that helped its shares climb 44% when including reinvested dividends.
The bottom line on companies Berkshire Hathaway owns
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Even so, a 4,384,748% return over a lifetime of investment isn't something to dismiss. The vast majority of investors could do worse than following Buffett's example of investing in stable, well-run, established companies that focus on core businesses.
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It looks like Buffett / Berkshire are getting closer to being net buyers of stocks again (see below). 2024 was the big net selling year, but so far this year they are only slightly net negative. Buffett hasn't been buying back Berkshire shares either (for 3 quarters), but to do share buybacks he reportedly likes to see the Price / Book ratio under 1.2, but it's currently 1.69 (as of Mar 31).
Q4 2022: $14.64 billion in net-equity sales
Q1 2023: $10.41 billion
Q2 2023: $7.981 billion
Q3 2023: $5.253 billion
Q4 2023: $0.525 billion
Q1 2024: $17.281 billion
Q2 2024: $75.536 billion
Q3 2024: $34.592 billion
Q4 2024: $6.713 billion
Q1 2025: $1.494 billion
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>>> Berkshire endorses Japanese trading houses, could hold them 'forever'
Reuters
by Jonathan Stempel
May 3, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-endorses-japanese-trading-houses-152101286.html
OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) -Warren Buffett on Saturday gave a full-throated endorsement to the five Japanese trading houses in which his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has invested.
Buffett spoke at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, 1-1/2 months after Berkshire said it raised its stakes in Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo to as high as 9.8%.
Berkshire's investments in the companies had totaled $23.5 billion at the end of 2024.
"In the next 50 years, we won't give a thought to selling those," Buffett said. "We have been treated extremely well by the five companies.... Our main activity is just to cheer and clap."
Greg Abel, a Berkshire vice chairman who is expected to succeed Buffett as chief executive, added that he envisioned Berkshire owning the trading houses for 50 years "or forever."
"We're building relationships," he said, "and we really hope to do big things with them."
Known as "sogo shosha," Japanese trading houses trade in a variety of materials, products and food, often serving as intermediaries, and provide logistical support.
They are also deeply involved in the real economy in such areas as commodities, shipping and steel.
Berkshire began investing in the trading houses in 2019, and revealed 5% ownership stakes on Buffett's 90th birthday the following August.
Buffett prefers to avoid businesses he says he does not understand, and has likened the trading houses to his own conglomerate.
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Itochu - >>> Current business overview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itochu
Itochu's business has eight major operational divisions, "Division Company".[5]
Textile Company: Itochu trades in raw materials and finished apparel, and also has a brand business.[6] It owns a portfolio of investments and rights in well-known fashion brands including Converse, Hunting World, LeSportsac, Mila Schön and Paul Smith. In 2018, Itochu acquired the Japanese Master License and exclusive distribution rights for the Laura Ashley brand.[7]
Machinery Company: Includes plant projects, marine, aerospace, automotive, construction/industrial machinery and healthcare.[8] In the automotive sector, Itochu is a shareholder of Yanase, Isuzu, and Mazda. In the infrastructure sector, Itochu partnered with Toshiba and Hitachi to supply infrastructure for the first expressway in Vietnam, the North–South Expressway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.[9] Itochu is also a partner in supplying rolling stock for the MTR in Hong Kong[10] and for New Generation Rollingstock passenger rail in Queensland, Australia.[11] It is a minority investor in the Sarulla geothermal power project in Indonesia[12] and has partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Engie to develop the $15.8 billion Sinop Nuclear Power Plant in Sinop, Turkey.[13]
Metals & Minerals Company: Engages in mining and ore trading, steel and non-ferrous metal trading, coal and nuclear fuel trading and solar power.[14] Furthermore, the “Carbon Neutral Management Section” was established in April, 2021, directly under the Metal & Mineral Resources Division in order to promote the developments in areas such as Hydrogen & Ammonia and CCUS (Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage). In addition, the Steel Business Coordination Department, which is directly overseen by the Metals & Minerals Company, provides support for Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. in the field of steel products.[15]
Energy & Chemicals Company: consists of 3 divisions: the Energy Division, the Chemicals Division and the Power & Environmental Solution Division. The Energy Division handles trading of general energy-related products, including crude oil, petroleum products, LPG, LNG, natural gas and hydrogen, as well as developing related projects. This Division also undertakes projects in oil & gas exploration, development and production.[16] Trades in oil and gas and a wide range of chemical products such as methanol, PTA and fertilizers.[17]
Food Company: Handles production, processing and distribution of various foodstuffs.[18] Two major group businesses are FamilyMart, acquired from Seiyu in 1998,[19] and Dole Food Company, which sold its worldwide packaged foods and Asia fresh produce businesses to Itochu for $1.7 billion in cash.[20] Itochu is also a strategic partner of COFCO in China[21] and owns an export grain terminal in Longview, Washington.[22] As of 2020 Itochu was one of the three largest global tuna traders along with Tri Marine of Italy and FCF of Taiwan.[23]
General Products & Realty Company: consists with the Forest Products, General Merchandise & Logistics Division and the Construction & Real Estate Division. The Forest Products, General Merchandise & Logistics Division deals with North American building materials, pulp, natural rubber, tires, and the distribution business including third-party logistics (3PL) and international transportation. The Construction & Real Estate Division deals with the construction materials business that handles wood products and OEM materials, the real estate development business that develops mainly residential housing and logistics facilities, and the real estate investment and building operation and management business.[24] A recent major acquisition in this division is WECARS, a major Japanese car retailer. Formerly known as Big Motor, the company was purchased by Itochu for ¥60 billion ($391 million) after scandal forced the company to rebrand.[25]
ICT & Financial Business Company: consists with the ICT Division and the Financial & Insurance Business Division.[26]
The 8th Company: collaborates with the other seven Business Companies.[27]
...In September 2020, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced that it had acquired over 5% of the stock in the company, along with four other Japanese trading houses, over the 12-month period ending in August 2020.[60] By April 2023, Berkshire increased the stake to 7.4%.[61]
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Japanese conglomerates - >>> Warren Buffett Loaded Up on These Stocks As the Market Sank. Should You Buy Them Too?
by Keith Speights
Motley Fool
April 24, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-loaded-stocks-market-084800341.html
Circle May 15 on your calendars. That's when we should find out all the stocks Warren Buffett bought for Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio during the first quarter of 2025, when the markets were highly turbulent.
However, we don't have to wait until Berkshire's mid-May 13F filing to know at least some of the legendary investor's moves in Q1. We already know that Buffett loaded up on several stocks as the market sank.
Buffett's international favorites
Sometimes, Berkshire reveals its trades via Form 4 regulatory filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) well before it submits a 13F filing. That's what happened in Q1, with the conglomerate disclosing that it bought additional shares of Verisign in January and Sirius XM Holdings and Occidental Petroleum in early February. I won't discuss these purchases in detail, though, because the S&P 500 wasn't declining when they were made.
The initial market sell-off began later in February as concerns rose about the Trump administration's tariffs. This decline erupted into a full-blown correction in April following the president's announcement of steep reciprocal tariffs on nearly every country. While we don't know yet if Buffett bought stocks in April, he did buy five stocks during the early part of the S&P 500's plunge.
Japanese regulatory filings revealed that Berkshire added to its positions in Itochu (OTC: ITOCF) (OTC: ITOCY), Marubeni (OTC: MARUF) (OTC: MARUY), Mitsubishi (OTC: MSBHF) (OTC: MTSU.Y), Mitsui (OTC: MITSF) (OTC: MITSY), and Sumitomo (OTC: SSUM.F) (OTC: SSUM.Y) in March. All five companies are Japanese trading houses known as "soga sosha."
These stock purchases shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. Buffett mentioned the Japanese companies in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders released on Feb. 22, 2025, writing, "Over time, you will likely see Berkshire's ownership of all five increase somewhat."
Why Buffett likes these Japanese stocks
Buffett has been a net seller of stocks for nine consecutive quarters. What does he like so much about these five Japanese stocks that made him want to buy more shares as the market tanked?
For one thing, Buffett understands their businesses. All five companies are conglomerates that operate in a wide range of industries. It's no coincidence this description sounds similar to Berkshire itself.
When Berkshire first invested in these Japanese stocks in 2019, Buffett was attracted to their low valuations. I suspect that's still the case. Itochu trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.5 -- and it's the most expensive of the group. Sumitomo's and Mitsubishi's earnings multiples are 9.72 and 9.52, respectively. Marubeni and Mitsui are even cheaper with shares trading at 8.21 and 7.82 times trailing 12-month earnings, respectively.
Buffett wrote to Berkshire shareholders earlier this year that he and his designated successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel, "like their capital deployment, their managements and their attitude in respect to their investors." In particular, he pointed out the Japanese conglomerates' approaches to dividend increases, stock buybacks, and executive compensation.
The "Oracle of Omaha" stated in his 2023 letter to Berkshire shareholders that Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo were among a select group of stocks he expected to "maintain indefinitely." He reaffirmed this view in his most recent shareholder letter, writing, "I expect that Greg and his eventual successors will be holding this Japanese position for many decades and that Berkshire will find other ways to work productively with the five companies in the future."
Should you buy these stocks too?
I'm always leery of even the appearance of suggesting that anyone buy a stock solely because a famous investor bought it. Your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial resources will almost certainly differ from Buffett's and Berkshire Hathaway's.
For example, Berkshire is borrowing yen to finance its investments in these Japanese stocks. Its dividend income in 2025 from the five trading houses should be in the ballpark of $812 million, compared to an interest cost of its yen-denominated debt of around $135 million. That's the kind of financial transaction most retail investors won't be able to swing.
That said, the underlying reasons Buffett likes these Japanese stocks are good reasons for other investors to like them. Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo have solid business models. Their stocks are attractively valued. All five pay dividends that should add to their total returns over the long run. I think these qualities make the stocks Buffett bought as the market sank good picks for quite a few other investors, too.
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>>> HEICO Corporation (HEI): A Bull Case Theory
Insider Monkey
by Ricardo Pillai
April 24, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heico-corporation-hei-bull-case-132232800.html
We came across a bullish thesis on HEICO Corporation (HEI) on Substack by Bulls On Parade. In this article, we will summarize the bulls’ thesis on HEI. HEICO Corporation (HEI)'s share was trading at $242.70 as of April 23rd. HEI’s trailing and forward P/E were 59.93 and 57.14 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.
Heico Corporation (HEI) represents one of those rare investment gems that quietly compounds value over decades, eschewing flashy narratives for disciplined execution and relentless focus on niche dominance. Founded in 1957 in Hollywood, Florida, Heico started modestly as a maker of aerospace components. But it was in the 1990s, under the stewardship of the Mendelson family—Laurans, Larry, and Victor—that the company’s real transformation began. Laurans Mendelson, now Chairman, saw the potential to specialize in high-margin, low-competition aerospace and defense niches, laying the groundwork for what is now a $36 billion market cap powerhouse. Heico’s rise has been anything but meteoric; it’s the product of a slow, steady strategy built on consistency, operational excellence, and a laser focus on where it can be indispensable.
The company operates in two primary segments: the Flight Support Group (FSG), which designs and manufactures FAA-approved aftermarket aircraft parts, and the Electronic Technologies Group (ETG), which produces specialized electronics for aerospace, defense, and industrial applications. While FSG serves as the steady cash generator, giving airlines cost-effective, high-quality alternatives to OEM parts, ETG caters to defense contractors and government agencies with advanced, often mission-critical electronics. Heico’s strength lies in its ability to dominate carefully selected niches, where it can build long-term customer relationships and face limited competitive pressure. This niche-first strategy is supported by a robust acquisition engine—Heico has completed over 70 acquisitions since the '90s, all small, profitable businesses that slot seamlessly into its ecosystem without requiring massive integration overhauls. The approach is surgical, not scattershot, and the results speak for themselves.
What truly sets Heico apart, however, is its capital allocation. With a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio now down to 2.06x from 3.04x a year ago, the company demonstrates a prudent approach to leverage. Rather than indulging in aggressive debt-fueled expansion or flashy shareholder payouts, Heico channels its cash into expanding its core operations, funding R&D, and making disciplined, accretive acquisitions. It pays a token dividend—just $0.22 annually, yielding under 0.1%—but this is by design. The management team, led by the Mendelsons, prefers to reinvest excess capital to drive compounding returns over the long haul, and given their track record, it’s hard to argue with the approach.
Heico’s most recent earnings for Q1 fiscal 2025, ending January 31, underscored the strength of this strategy. Net income jumped 46% year-over-year to $168 million, or $1.20 per diluted share, while revenue climbed 8% to record levels. FSG was the standout, delivering 15% revenue growth and a 35% increase in operating income, driven by 12% organic growth and smart acquisitions. ETG, while facing temporary headwinds from inventory destocking, remains well-positioned with a strong backlog and pipeline. Importantly, operating cash flow remains robust, ensuring ample liquidity for continued M&A activity. Management has reiterated its bullish outlook, highlighting a healthy acquisition funnel and broad customer demand across both segments.
Of course, the one point that might give investors pause is valuation. With shares trading around $260, Heico commands a trailing P/E of 64 and a forward P/E of 55—premium territory by any measure. Analysts expect 13.4% annual EPS growth and 10.3% revenue growth over the next few years, and the stock's average price target of $270 suggests modest upside. Still, Heico’s PEG ratio of 3.32 reflects a quality premium more than speculative froth. For investors focused on long-term compounding and business quality, this valuation may be justified. The company’s nearly five-decade dividend history and consistent earnings expansion lend further credibility to its durability.
In essence, Heico isn’t trying to be the next big disruptor—it’s content being the steady performer, the business that just works. It’s not going to make headlines, but it will likely continue doing what it has always done: find defensible niches, dominate them quietly, allocate capital smartly, and let the results speak. In a market saturated with hype and volatility, Heico offers something rare—reliability, predictability, and patient compounding. For those willing to embrace the boring brilliance of a business built for the long haul, Heico might just be the kind of quiet giant worth owning.
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>>> Verisign first-quarter revenue rises on strong demand for domain names
Reuters
April 24, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/verisign-first-quarter-revenue-rises-211500802.html
(Reuters) - Internet services company Verisign reported a 4.7% rise in first-quarter revenue on Thursday, driven by steady demand for domain registrations as businesses build their online presence.
An increasing number of businesses are acquiring and renewing domain names, which helps them reach a larger audience. This trend is benefiting domain registry service providers like Verisign.
The company reported revenue of $402.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, up from $384.3 million a year ago.
Verisign primarily manages the domain-name registries for two of the internet's most valuable domains – .com and .net, and also operates two of the 13 global internet root servers.
The Reston, Virginia-based company posted a quarterly net profit of $199.3 million, or $2.10 per share, up from $194.1 million, or $1.92 per share, reported last year.
Verisign processed 10.1 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net in the first quarter, compared with 9.5 million a year ago.
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>>> Berkshire Hathaway director Olson to step down, Buffett opposes shareholder proposals
Reuters
March 14, 2025
by Jonathan Stempel
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaway-director-olson-step-224844933.html
(Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway said on Friday longtime Director Ronald Olson will be leaving its board because of a policy change requiring directors, except for Warren Buffett, to step down after turning 80.
In a proxy statement for its May 3 annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, Berkshire also said its board unanimously urged the rejection of seven shareholder proposals, including three on its subsidiaries' diversity and anti-discrimination efforts.
Berkshire also said Buffett's compensation was $405,111 in 2024, comprising his usual $100,000 salary plus personal and home security.
Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who is expected to succeed Buffett as chief executive, and Vice Chairman Ajit Jain saw their compensation grow $1 million to $21 million each.
Abel, 62, oversees non-insurance businesses such as the BNSF railroad and Berkshire Hathaway Energy, while Jain, 73, oversees insurance businesses such as Geico car insurance.
Olson, 83, is a partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, and has been a Berkshire director since 1997.
He is leaving Berkshire's 14-member board because of the new age limit in its corporate governance guidelines. All other directors apart from Buffett are 75 or younger.
Olson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Buffett is excused from the age limit because he controls 30.3% of Berkshire's voting power, triggering an exception for people who control at least 5%.
The 94-year-old billionaire also owns about 14.4% of Berkshire stock. He would be allowed to remain a director upon retiring, if the independent directors want him to stay.
Shareholder proposals include resolutions by conservative investors that Berkshire report on how its business practices affect employees based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin and political views, and on risks from its subsidiaries' race-based initiatives.
Berkshire's board called both reports unnecessary, saying subsidiaries set their own policies and "Berkshire's approach is simple - follow the law and do the right thing."
The board also opposed a proposal to create a committee to oversee diversity and inclusion, saying its audit committee already oversees diversity matters.
It also said a proposal to have independent directors oversee risks associated with artificial intelligence was unnecessary and inconsistent with Berkshire's decentralized culture.
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>>> Warren Buffett calls Trump’s tariffs a tax on goods, says ‘the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ‘em’
CNBC
Mar 2 2025
by Yun Li
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/02/warren-buffett-calls-trumps-tariffs-a-tax-on-goods-says-the-tooth-fairy-doesnt-pay-em.html
Legendary investor Warren Buffett made a rare comment on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, saying punitive duties could trigger inflation and hurt consumers.
“Tariffs are actually, we’ve had a lot of experience with them. They’re an act of war, to some degree,” said Buffett, whose conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has large businesses in insurance, railroad, manufacturing, energy and retail. He made the remarks in an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell for a new documentary on the late publisher of the Washington Post, Katharine Graham.
“Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em!” Buffett said with a laughter. “And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, ‘And then what?’”
This marks the first public remark from the 94-year-old “Oracle of Omaha” on Trump’s trade policies. Last week, Trump announced that the sweeping 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect March 4 and that China will be charged an additional 10% tariff on the same date. China has vowed to retaliate.
During Trump’s first term, the Berkshire chair and CEO opined at length in 2018 and 2019 about the trade conflicts that erupted, warning that the Republican’s aggressive moves could cause negative consequences globally.
When asked about the current state of the economy by CBS, Buffett refrained from commenting on it directly.
“Well, I think that’s the most interesting subject in the world, but I won’t talk, I can’t talk about it, though. I really can’t,” Buffett said.
Buffett has been in a defensive mode over the past year as he rapidly dumped stocks and raised a record amount of cash. Some read Buffett’s conservative moves as a bearish call on the market and the economy, while others believe he’s preparing the conglomerate for his successor by paring outsized positions and building up cash.
Market volatility has ramped up as of late as concerns grew about a slowing economy, unpredictable policy changes from Trump as well as overall stock valuations. The S&P 500 is up just about 1% this year.
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>>> Warren Buffett Defends His Growing Cash Pile
The Wall Street Journal
by Karen Langley
2-22-25
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/warren-buffett-defends-his-growing-cash-pile/ar-AA1zzAep?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=6d67a0c1a9f84120bd5f5e866cca2cf1&ei=31
Warren Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway still prefers owning businesses.
Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive told shareholders in his annual letter Saturday that while the company’s ownership of stocks declined last year, the value of the operating businesses it owns increased. Berkshire runs a range of subsidiaries in such industries as rail, utilities and insurance.
A recent buildup in the Omaha, Neb., conglomerate’s mountain of cash and Treasury bills has drawn attention among investors. Berkshire ended 2024 with $321.4 billion in cash and Treasury bills, after accounting for a payable it recorded for buying the short-term government debt. That marked a new record and a 3.6% increase from three months earlier.
“Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities,” Buffett wrote. “That preference won’t change.”
Buffett said Berkshire’s ownership of “marketable equities” declined last year. But the famed stock picker offered assurance that the company hasn’t changed its investment approach.
“Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities—mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance,” he wrote. “Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.”
Buffett and his deputies are searching for investment opportunities while stocks trade at records, with the S&P 500 clinching another high in recent days.
An exception to Berkshire’s focus on U.S. investments, Buffett wrote, is its growing investment in Japan. In July 2019, Berkshire began buying shares of five Japanese trading companies: Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo.
A year ago, Buffett wrote that Berkshire owned about 9% of each of the five companies and that it had told each company it wouldn’t increase its stake beyond 9.9%.
But Berkshire received the companies’ blessings to buy some more, Buffett wrote in his new letter. He praised the companies for their use of capital, their management and their attitude toward shareholders.
“As we approached this limit, the five companies agreed to moderately relax the ceiling,” he said. “Over time, you will likely see Berkshire’s ownership of all five increase somewhat.”
At the end of 2024, the market value of Berkshire’s Japan holdings had reached $23.5 billion, Buffett wrote.
Buffett also wrote about Berkshire’s practice of not paying dividends, other than on one occasion in 1967. He said the decisions to reinvest Berkshire’s money over the years, rather than paying some of it out, have had big results. Berkshire’s market value passed $1 trillion last year.
“In a very minor way, Berkshire shareholders have participated in the American miracle by foregoing dividends, thereby electing to reinvest rather than consume,” he wrote. “Originally, this reinvestment was tiny, almost meaningless, but over time, it mushroomed, reflecting the mixture of a sustained culture of savings, combined with the magic of long-term compounding.”One more way Berkshire isn’t spending its cash: stock buybacks. The company reported it repurchased no shares in the final three months of 2024, a second consecutive quarter without buybacks. The lack of buybacks suggests Buffett doesn’t think Berkshire’s stock is cheap.
Berkshire also released its results for 2024, reporting a profit of $89 billion, down from $96.2 billion in 2023. The company’s operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, rose to $47.4 billion.
Buffett encourages shareholders to pay attention to operating earnings. Berkshire’s net income includes unrealized gains and losses from its stock investments, causing the bottom-line earnings figure to fluctuate when markets are volatile.
Its stock has risen to start the year, with both Class A and Class B shares up about 5.6%, compared with the S&P 500’s 2.2% gain. Both Berkshire share classes closed at records in recent days.
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>>> Warren Buffett Is Out of Step With Markets. Berkshire Hathaway Keeps Selling Stocks.
Barron's
by Andrew Bary
Feb 17, 2025
https://www.barrons.com/articles/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-stocks-sales-portfolio-holdings-92567500?siteid=yhoof2
Warren Buffett is out of step with the markets.
The S&P 500 returned 25% in 2024 and is up another 4% this year, but Berkshire Hathaway refuses to join the party and continues to be a net seller of stocks.
CEO Buffett, who oversees Berkshire’s $300 billion equity portfolio, is unenthusiastic about equities with the S&P 500 hitting new highs.
It may take a sizable selloff to get Buffett excited about stocks and few see that coming in 2025. Since he turned 90 in 2020, Buffett has been cautious on stocks. The Berkshire CEO turns 95 in August and celebrates his 60th year at the helm in 2025.
The company’s 13-F report on its fourth-quarter equity holdings released late Friday showed that Berkshire was a net seller of about $6 billion of stocks in the period, according to an analysis by Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan.
The pace of sales lightened from the first three quarters of 2024 when Berkshire had net sales of $127 billion of stocks. In those nine months, Berkshire bought just under $6 billion of stocks and sold $133 billion, mostly Apple.
There was only one notable new purchase in the fourth quarter: about $1 billion of Constellation Brands, the wine, beer, and spirits company. Berkshire sold about $5 billion of Bank of America, unloaded $3 billion of Citigroup, and didn’t change its Apple stake, which remains at 300 million shares. The Citi stake is nearly gone, totaling about $1 billion now. Some investors thought he might make Citi a major financial holding like Bank of America after buying about $3 billion of the banking company but Buffett went in the opposite direction.
Looking back at 2024, Berkshire was a buyer of a handful of stocks, including Chubb, Occidental Petroleum, Sirius XM Holdings, Domino’s Pizza, and Constellation, but none of those purchases was particularly large.
And a few of the buys—Sirius, Domino’s, Constellation—probably were made by Ted Weschler or Todd Combs, two Berkshire investment managers who operate independently of Buffett and run about 10% of the equity portfolio. Smaller holdings of under $3 billion often are their positions.
Buffett, who handles the other 90%, likely was the buyer of insurer Chubb and Occidental. The Chubb stake, revealed in the first half of 2024, totals about $7 billion. The Occidental holding is about $13 billion, a nearly 30% stake in the energy company. Berkshire began accumulating the Occidental stake in 2022.
Apple was the big story in 2024 as Berkshire cut its holding by about two-thirds to 300 million shares, a stake now worth $73 billion, making it the company’s largest stock investment, ahead of No. 2 American Express at about $47 billion. Berkshire sold about $110 billion of Apple last year and $14 billion worth of Bank of America, Barron’s estimates.
Neither of those sales was well-timed. Barron’s estimates that Berkshire got an average price of about $185 for Apple—against a current $244—and a little over $40 for Bank of America, versus a current $47. That means Berkshire may have left over $35 billion on the table with the Apple sales.
Berkshire is due to report its fourth-quarter earnings on Saturday morning and should release its annual report and shareholder letter at the same time.
It’s a good bet that Berkshire’s cash and equivalents, which hit a record $310 billion on Sept. 30, was higher at year-end due in part to the stock sales in the fourth quarter.
Buffett has been out of step with the markets before, including during the Internet bubble of the late 1990s. He was vindicated then and could be rewarded once again.
Berkshire investors don’t seem upset about mistimed sales and missed buying opportunities, particularly among the Magnificent Seven stocks that have led the market. Berkshire owns Apple, having bought it from 2016-2018, and has a small stake in Amazon.com.
The Berkshire Class A shares, which ended Friday at $719,000, are up 6.5% this year, about two percentage points ahead of the S&P 500. The stock roughly matched the market last year.
Holding more cash than any other American company—and having the opportunity to deploy it if the markets crater—seems to sit well with the Berkshire faithful.
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Another conglomerate to split (Honeywell). What could Berkshire look like in 10 years?
- Insurance
- Energy
- Railroad
- Manufacturing
- Services / Retail
- Industrial
>>> Honeywell, one of the few remaining US industrial conglomerates, will split into three companies
AP
by MICHELLE CHAPMAN
February 6, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/honeywell-one-few-remaining-us-113124365.html
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Current Berkshire portfolio -
Re-posted from -
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175687508
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>>> Pool Corporation (POOL) distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in the United States and internationally. The company offers maintenance products, including chemicals, supplies, and pool accessories; repair and replacement parts for pool equipment, such as cleaners, filters, heaters, pumps, and lights; and building materials, such as concrete, plumbing and electrical components, functional and decorative pool surfaces, decking materials, tiles, hardscapes, and natural stones for pool installations and remodeling. It also provides pool equipment and components for new pool construction and the remodeling of existing pools; irrigation and related products, such as irrigation system components, and professional turf care equipment and supplies; commercial products, including heaters, safety equipment, commercial decking equipment, and commercial pumps and filters. In addition, the company offers fiberglass pools, and hot tubs and packaged pool kits comprising walls, liners, braces, and coping for in-ground and above-ground pools; and other pool construction and recreational products comprising discretionary recreational and related outdoor living products, such as grills and components for outdoor kitchens. It serves swimming pool remodelers and builders; specialty retailers that sell swimming pool supplies; swimming pool repair and service businesses; irrigation construction and landscape maintenance contractors; and commercial pool operators and pool contractors. Pool Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Covington, Louisiana.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/POOL/profile/
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>>> T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS), together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile communications services in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The company offers voice, messaging, and data services to customers in the postpaid, prepaid, and wholesale and other services. It also provides wireless devices, including smartphones, wearables, tablets, home broadband routers, and other mobile communication devices, as well as wireless devices and accessories; financing through equipment installment plans; reinsurance for device insurance policies and extended warranty contracts; leasing through JUMP! On Demand; and High Speed Internet services. In addition, the company offers services, devices, and accessories under the T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile brands through its owned and operated retail stores, T-Mobile app and customer care channels, and its websites. It also sells its devices to dealers and other third-party distributors for resale through independent third-party retail outlets and various third-party websites. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. T-Mobile US, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. <<<
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TMUS/profile/
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>>> VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce. It operates directory for .name and .cc; and back-end systems for .edu, domain names. VeriSign, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VRSN/profile/
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>>> Warren Buffett Stocks: A Look at Berkshire Hathaway's Holdings
https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/warren-buffett-stocks-berkshire-hathaway-portfolio#section-stocks-warren-buffett-is-selling
Warren Buffett's holdings are a diverse set of blue chips and lesser-known growth bets. Here, we look at Buffett's stock picks, as well as those of his lieutenants.
The Berkshire Hathaway portfolio
Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying
Stocks Warren Buffett Is Selling
Berkshire's Top Five Holdings
Apple
Bank of America
American Express
Coca-Cola
Chevron
By Dan Burrows
last updated November 18, 2024
Warren Buffett's stock picks aren't what they used to be. Indeed, the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) equity portfolio has changed dramatically over the past few years. Although old-guard favorites such as American Express (AXP) and Coca-Cola (KO) still form the core of the portfolio, Buffett & Co. have taken a shine to names such as Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN), and even to lesser-known firms such as Nu Holdings (NU).
One thing that hasn't changed, however, is Buffett's preference for maintaining a highly concentrated portfolio. Excluding the company's Japanese brokerage stocks, Apple alone accounts for 26% of Berkshire's equity holdings. That's down from almost 50% a year ago.
Furthermore, Berkshire's top five U.S. equity holdings comprise about two-thirds of its portfolio's value, while the top 10 account for more than 80%.
As Buffett likes to say, diversification is for those who don't know what they're doing.
Also please note that Buffett himself is thought to handle the largest positions in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. Buffett says his co-managers – Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, who is CEO of Geico – act independently. Buffettologists generally assume Berkshire's smaller buys and sells are the work of these colleagues.
But whether we're talking about Berkshire's biggest bets or the scores of stocks it maintains at the margins, Buffett's focus shifted after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buffett owned airline stocks at the start of 2020; now he holds none. Banks were aces among Buffett stocks to begin 2020; Berkshire soon kicked most of them to the curb. And it seems like only yesterday that Buffett was an enthusiastic buyer of select pharmaceutical names. Today, most of those positions have been closed out too.
If you want to know which stocks Warren Buffett is buying and selling, look no further than the Berkshire Hathaway's holdings.
Price, share totals and other data as of September 30, 2024. Sources: Berkshire Hathaway’s SEC Form 13F filed November 14, 2024, for the reporting period ended September 30, 2024; and WhaleWisdom.
The Berkshire Hathaway portfolio
U.S. equity portfolio as of the end of Q3 2024
Company Shares held Holding value Percent of portfolio
Apple (AAPL) 300,000,000 $69,900,000,000 26.24%
American Express (AXP) 151,610,700 $41,116,821,840 15.44%
Bank of America (BAC) 797,683,307 $31,652,073,622 11.88%
Coca-Cola (KO) 400,000,000 $28,744,000,000 10.79%
Chevron (CVX) 118,610,534 $13,157,209,747 4.94%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) 255,281,524 $16,090,394,458 5.83%
Moody's (MCO) 24,669,778 $11,708,029,942 4.40%
Kraft Heinz (KHC) 325,634,818 $11,433,038,460 4.29%
Chubb (CB) 27,033,784 $7,796,272,968 2.93%
DaVita (DVA) 36,095,570 $5,917,146,790 2.22%
Citigroup (C) 55,244,797 $3,458,324,292 1.30%
Kroger (KR) 50,000,000 $2,865,000,000 1.08%
Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) 105,155,029 $2,486,916,437 0.93%
Verisign (VRSN) 12,815,613 $2,434,453,846 0.91%
Visa (V) 8,297,460 $2,281,386,627 0.86%
Mastercard (MA) 3,986,648 $1,968,606,782 0.74%
Amazon.com (AMZN) 10,000,000 $1,863,300,000 0.70%
Aon (AON) 4,100,000 $1,418,559,000 0.53%
Capital One Financial (COF) 9,100,000 $1,362,543,000 0.51%
Nu Holdings (NU) 86,438,997 $1,179,892,309 0.44%
Ally Financial (ALLY) 29,000,000 $1,032,110,000 0.39%
T-Mobile US (TMUS) 4,672,000 $964,113,920 0.36%
Charter Communications (CHTR) 2,821,879 $914,514,546 0.34%
Louisiana Pacific (LPX) 5,964,793 $640,976,656 0.24%
Formula One Group (FWONK) 7,722,451 $597,949,381 0.22%
Liberty Media (LLYVK) 10,917,661 $560,403,539 0.21%
Domino's Pizza (DPZ) 1,277,256 $549,398,896 0.21%
Liberty Media (LLYVA) 4,986,588 $246,885,972 0.09%
Heico (HEI) 1,049,687 $213,884,223 0.08%
Pool (POOL) 404,057 $152,248,678 0.06%
NVR (NVR) 11,112 $109,028,722 0.04%
Floor & Decor (FND) 3,977,870 $395,440,057 0.14%
Diageo (DEO) 227,750 $31,962,435 0.01%
Jefferies (JEF) 433,558 $26,685,495 0.01%
Lennar (LEN) 152,572 $26,385,802 0.01%
Liberty Latin America Class A (LILA) 2,630,792 $25,202,987 0.01%
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) 43,000 $22,689,810 0.01%
SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) 39,400 $22,606,144 0.01%
Liberty Latin Americ Class C (LILAK) 1,284,020 $12,185,350 less than 0.01%
Ulta Beauty 24,203 $9,417,871 less than 0.01%
Atlanta Braves Holdings (BATRK) 223,645 $8,901,072 less than 0.01%
Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying
Berkshire Hathaway initiated two positions in the third quarter of 2024: Domino's Pizza (DPZ) and Pool (POOL). The size of the new stakes suggests these were not Warren Buffett's picks, but let's take a brief look anyway.
Berkshire bought almost 1.3 million shares in Domino's Pizza during the third quarter, a stake worth $549.4 million as of September 30. With a weight of 0.21%, DPZ ranks as the 27th most material holding in Berkshire's U.S. equity portfolio.
Berkshire now owns 3.7% of DPZ common shares outstanding, making it the pizza chain's seventh-largest shareholder. Wall Street analysts, whom Buffett totally ignores, are likewise bullish on DPZ's prospects – at least over the next 12 months or so.
Of the 34 analysts covering DPZ surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 18 rate it at Strong Buy, four call it a Buy, 11 have it at Hold and one says Sell. That works out to a consensus recommendation of Buy, with high conviction.
As for Pool, which describes itself as the largest distributor of supplies, equipment and machinery for swimming pools worldwide, Berkshire Hathaway initiated a stake of 404,057 shares worth $152.2 million as of the end of Q3.
POOL's weight of 0.06% makes it the 30th largest holding in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. Suffice to say, this name won't be all that important to the conglomerate's overall results. Meanwhile, with an ownership stake of a little more than 1%, Berkshire is POOL's 21st largest shareholder.
As previously reported, Berkshire has been adding to its position in Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI). The investment, which is thought to be handled by Ted Weschler, includes purchases of a tracking stock for Liberty Media (LLYVA), as well as the merger of Sirius XM and the tracking stock. (Happily, this means we can all forget about Liberty Sirius XM Group, Series A and Liberty Sirius XM Group, Series C.)
The bottom line is that BRK.B now holds 105.1 million shares in SIRI, bringing its weight in the portfolio up to 0.9% from 0.1%. The stake, worth $2.5 billion as of the end of Q3, further cements BRK.B's position as SIRI's largest shareholder, owning more than a third of its common stock outstanding.
Lastly, Berkshire upped its stake in Heico (HEI) by 5,445 shares. The position, worth $213.9 million, has a weight of less than 0.1% in BRK.B's stock portfolio.
Stocks Warren Buffett Is Selling
As is well known by now, Buffett has been selling Apple stock even though the iPhone maker remains his favorite name by far. He has also greatly pared back Berkshire Hathaway's exposure to Bank of America.
Whether these moves were made for tax purposes or regulatory reasons or because Buffett is calling a market top is not known.
Here's what market participants do know based on Berkshire Hathaway's Form 13F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 14.
After a series of sales, Berkshire Hathaway holds an even 300,000 shares in Apple. At more than 26% of BRK.B's U.S. equity portfolio value, the iPhone maker remains Buffett's biggest single bet by far.
Buffett is also reducing exposure to BAC, by 23% in the third quarter alone. With a weighting of almost 12% – down from almost 15% three months ago – Bank of America is Berkshire's third largest holding. The stake was worth $32 billion as of the end of Q3.
Staying in the financial sector, Berkshire cut its stake in Capital One Financial (COF) by 7%, selling a total of 719,052 shares. With a 0.5% weight in the portfolio, COF remains Berkshire's 19th largest holding.
In other sales, Berkshire slashed its stake in Nu Holdings (NU) by nearly a fifth, and decreased its investment in Charter Communications (CHTR) by more than 26%.
Turning to the department of "that didn't last long," Berkshire essentially exited its stake in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), a position it initiated earlier this year.
As for total exits, Berkshire sold off what remained of its stake in Floor & Decor Holdings (FND), a stock it first bought in the third quarter of 2021.
Berkshire's Top Five Holdings
As noted above, Warren Buffett has always maintained a highly concentrated portfolio. Indeed, he's said that "diversification makes very little sense for anyone who knows what they're doing."
The stocks below accounted for about two-thirds of Berkshire's total U.S. equities portfolio value as of the end of Q3. If you want to know what's driving the bulk of the Buffett's returns, check out the names below.
Apple
Warren Buffett has called Apple "Berkshire's third business," so it should come as no surprise that the iPhone maker routinely takes the top spot among the holding company's positions.
True, Berkshire pared its stake in Apple in early 2024, but Buffett assured shareholders he adores AAPL as much as ever at the annual meeting. BRK.B's CEO took pains to explain that the iPhone maker is still, er, the Apple of his eye. (It would have been embarrassing not to, considering Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the event in person.)
For the record, the sales were for tax purposes. The greatest long-term investor of all time said that AAPL is "even better" than American Express or Coca-Cola, two "wonderful" businesses that Berkshire has owned since the early 1960s and late 1980s, respectively.
Bank of America
Bank of America is Berkshire Hathaway's second-largest holding behind only Apple. Buffett first acquired BAC stock in Q3 2017. Berkshire is the bank's largest institutional shareholder.
In an April 2023 media appearance, Buffett said that he unloaded many of the holding company's bank stocks because he didn't think they were near as solid investments as they once were. As for Bank of America, he said this about the bank and its CEO:
"I like [CEO] Brian Moynihan enormously. And I just don't wanna, I don't wanna sell it," the 92-year-old CEO told CNBC's Becky Quick. "But I did sell banks that we'd owned for 25 or 30 years. And if they asked me why I did it, I told them – I just think the system isn't set up quite right in terms of connecting punishment to culprits on something that's important."
American Express
Buffett likes credit-card companies. Berkshire owns substantial stakes in payments processors Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) but he really loves American Express.
Buffett took his first stake in AmEx in the 1960s, and it’s still paying off a half-century later. There's a lot to love about AmEx: Its management is strong, it's a dominant brand in the industry, and it generates copious amounts of free cash flow – the money left over after essential capital expenditures are made that can be used to finance dividends and stock buybacks.
The current yield on the dividend isn’t eye-catching, but it is safe and growing. And the stock is only slightly more volatile than the broader market. Those are attributes that will help long-term investors sleep better at night.
Coca-Cola
Buffett famously watched Coca-Cola for 52 years before investing in the stock.
He finally took the plunge in 1988. "We expect to hold these securities for a long time," Buffett wrote back then of his new stake in Coke in a letter to Berkshire shareholders. "In fact, when we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever."
As of the end of Q3 2024, Berkshire owned 9.3% of Coca-Cola’s outstanding shares. Analysts like the stock's prospects, too. Wall Street gives KO a consensus recommendation of Buy, with strong conviction.
Chevron
Thanks to the outlook for crude oil prices, the energy sector is enjoying steady and predictable free cash flow. Chevron, the only energy name among all 30 Dow Jones stocks, is returning some of this cash to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
Make no mistake: there are few things Buffett likes more than dividends and buybacks.
It also helps that oil is a solid hedge against inflation. With inflation still running ahead of the Federal Reserve's 2% target, commodities should remain in favor. Berkshire's massive pile of cash, equivalents and short-term investments is much better put to use in an asset like Chevron under such conditions.
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>>> All 41 Stocks Warren Buffett Has In Berkshire Hathaway's Portfolio
Forbes
by Catherine Brock
Updated Dec 3, 2024
https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor-hub/article/all-stocks-warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-portfolio/
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Understanding Warren Buffett's Investing Strategy
Warren Buffett's Top 10 Investments
Berkshire Hathaway's Other Holdings
Recent Changes To The Portfolio
Why Is Warren Buffett Known As One Of The Best Investors?
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has the job of delivering value to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B), the massive conglomerate he runs. Buffett's preferred value-creation strategy involves buying good companies outright. But when the timing is right, he will also take partial ownership positions via public stock trades.
Investors watch Buffett's public stock moves closely for inspiration. He is known for his methodical investing process, and his trades signal where he sees value and where he doesn't. See what takeaways you can gather from this review of the entire Berkshire Hathaway stock portfolio, overseen by the Oracle of Omaha himself.
Understanding Warren Buffett's Investing Strategy
Buffett is a value investor who favors proven business models, ironclad competitive advantages and savvy leadership teams. He chooses reliable companies he can hold for the long term, in part because he doesn't believe it's possible to time the market.
The value approach involves estimating a company's intrinsic value and using that number to set a maximum buy price. The target price would incorporate a margin of safety to minimize downside risk and enhance upside potential. As an example, if Buffett decides Company A has a fair value of $100 per share, he might not want to pay more than $65 for it. In that case, the margin of safety is 35%.
If Company A stock is trading around $100, it isn't investable. If a temporary circumstance, such as a market crash, pulls the price down to $65, it may be time to buy. You can see this in action during weak markets when Berkshire deploys more cash into stock shares.
Much more than breaking news, our diverse reporting digs deeper with unparalleled insights that empower you to make better informed decisions. Become a Forbes member and unlock unlimited access to cutting-edge strategies, actionable insights, and updated analysis from our network of leading finance experts.
Warren Buffett's Top 10 Investments
The SEC requires Berkshire Hathaway to report its public stock holdings quarterly via Form 13F. Berkshire also discloses "insider" trades on Form 4. The conglomerate is an insider where it owns 10% or more of another company's outstanding stock.
All 41 Warren Buffett stocks below are compiled from Berkshire's Form 13F as of June 30, 2024, plus subsequent Form 4 filings related to the Bank of America (BAC) position. Position values are calculated from stock prices as of September 9, 2024.
The top 10 stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio are:
Apple (AAPL): $87.37 billion
American Express Company (AXP): $38.09 billion
Bank of America (BAC): $34.14 billion
Coca-Cola (KO): $28.79 billion
Chevron (CVX): $16.78 billion
Occidental Petroleum (OXY): $13.38 billion
Moody's (MCA): $11.90 billion
Kraft Heinz (KHC): $11.73 billion
Chubb Limited (CB): $7.88 billion
Davita (DVA): $5.44 billion
Berkshire Hathaway's Other Holdings
Smaller Berkshire Hathaway stock positions range in value from $3.29 billion for Citibank to $9 million for Atlanta Braves Holdings. Of note are several positions issued by Liberty Media, which have since been restructured to split off the Sirius XM satellite radio business. Interestingly, the Berkshire portfolio also includes two small S&P 500 ETF positions with an aggregate value of $42 million.
Here are the remaining positions in the Berkshire portfolio, after the top 10:
Citigroup (C): $3.29 billion
Kroger (KR): $2.61 billion
Visa (V): $2.36 billion
Verisign (VRSN): $2.33 billion
Mastercard (MA): $1.94 billion
Amazon (AMZN): $1.74 billion
Liberty SiriusXM Group (LSXMK): $1.56 billion
Nu Holdings Ltd (NU): $1.47 billion
Aon PLC (AON): $1.43 billion
Capital One Financial (COF): $1.41 billion
Charter Communications (CHTR): $1.25 billion
Ally Financial (ALLY): $1.15 billion
T-mobile (TMUS): $911 million
Liberty SiriusXM Group (LSXMA): $786 million
Formula One Group (FWONK): $585 million
Louisiana Pacific (LPX): $561 million
Liberty Live Group (LLYVK): $429 million
Floor & Décor Holdings (FND): $427 million
Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI): $355 million
Heico (HEI.A): $267 million
Ulta Beauty (ULTA): $263 million
Liberty Live Group (LLYVA): $191 million
NVR (NVR): $102 million
Diageo PLC (DEO): $29 million
Lennar (LEN.B): $28 million
Jefferies Financial Group (JEF): $25 million
Liberty Latin America (LILA): $24 million
Vanguard 500 ETF (VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 0.0%): $22 million
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY Principal Shareholder Yield Index ETF 0.0%SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust 0.0%): $21 million
Liberty Latin America Class C (LILAK): $12 million
Atlanta Braves Holdings (BATRK): $9 million
Recent Changes To The Portfolio
A comparison of recent filings reveals where Buffett is trimming or enhancing Berkshire's stock holdings. Form 4 shows several liquidations of Bank of America, reducing the portfolio's share count to about 864 million shares as of September 4, from more than 1 billion on June 30, 2024.
During the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway also sold 389 million shares of Apple and exited positions in Paramount Global (PARA) and data warehouse provider Snowflake (SNOW). Additionally, Berkshire reduced its holdings in Chevron, Capital One Financial, Floor & Décor Holdings and T-Mobile.
Also in the quarter, Berkshire opened new positions with Ulta Beauty and aerospace parts provider Heico. Additionally, the conglomerate increased its ownership of Occidental Petroleum with the purchase of 7.2 million shares. Berkshire now owns more than 25% of the oil and gas company.
Berkshire also shuffled around its Liberty Media and Sirius holdings in advance of the restructuring transactions that were implemented on September 9.
Why Is Warren Buffett Known As One Of The Best Investors?
Buffett started investing when he was 10 years old and took the helm at Berkshire Hathaway when he was 35. At the time, Berkshire was a textile manufacturer. Today, in Buffett's 94th year, Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company and S&P 500 constituent worth nearly $1 trillion. Buffett himself is worth an estimated $142 billion.
He has documented his time at Berkshire with annual letters to the company's shareholders. Some of Buffett's most memorable quotes have come from these letters, mixed in among his updates on different areas of the business. He also includes a running annual comparison of Berkshire's market value growth and the growth in the S&P 500. There isn't a consistent winner every year, but there is a clear winner over time.
Between 1965 and 2023, Berkshire Hathaway grew at a compound annual rate of 19.8%—nearly double the S&P 500's 10.2%. While other investors have beaten the market by wider margins, none have done it for as long as Buffett has.
He has proven, repeatedly, that investors don't have to trade heavily or time the market to create wealth. The approach can be so much simpler: Buy good companies at value prices and hold them indefinitely. In this strategy, compounding does the heavy lifting to create outsized gains over time.
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>>> Moody’s Acquires Numerated Growth Technologies, Expanding Lending Technology Solutions
Business Wire
November 21, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/moody-acquires-numerated-growth-technologies-130000091.html
NEW YORK, November 21, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) announced today that it has acquired Numerated Growth Technologies (Numerated), a loan origination platform for financial institutions. The transaction further expands Moody’s Lending Suite capabilities across the credit lifecycle, providing banking customers with a powerful end-to-end loan origination and monitoring solution.
The acquisition builds on a partnership announced in January 2024 that integrated Numerated’s front office, decisioning, and loan operation technologies with Moody’s credit assessment, underwriting, and monitoring expertise. Numerated will be integrated into Moody’s Lending Suite, creating a full loan origination workflow.
"As our banking customers undergo digital transformation programs to enhance their user experience, automate processes, and provide their front office functions with more data, they’re looking for a credible end-to-end lending solution," said Rob Fauber, President and Chief Executive Officer of Moody’s. "By bringing Numerated and its technology and expertise in-house, we’ll accelerate our Lending Suite capabilities to equip customers across asset classes with more of our industry-leading risk data and analytical solutions."
Numerated uses data and artificial intelligence to streamline and enhance bank lending – improving the application, decision-making, and closing processes through enhanced data integrity. Financial institutions with a combined $3 trillion in assets use Numerated, and since its inception, over 500,000 businesses and 30,000 financial institution associates have used its platform to process over $65 billion in lending.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and it is not expected to have a material impact on Moody’s 2024 financial results.
About Moody’s Corporation
In a world shaped by increasingly interconnected risks, Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) data, insights, and innovative technologies help customers develop a holistic view of their world and unlock opportunities. With a rich history of experience in global markets and a diverse workforce of approximately 15,000 across more than 40 countries, Moody’s gives customers the comprehensive perspective needed to act with confidence and thrive. Learn more at moodys.com.
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>>> Warren Buffett Just Bought A $185,373,840 Stake in This Little-Known SpaceX Competitor
AG Plus
by Caleb Naysmith
Oct 31, 2024
https://www.agplusinc.com/news/story/29331446/warren-buffett-just-bought-a-185-373-840-stake-in-this-little-known-spacex-competitor#:~:text=Buffett's%20Berkshire%20Hathaway%20(BRK.,in%20the%20conglomerate's%20extensive%20portfolio.
In a surprising shift toward the aerospace and defense sector, legendary investor Warren Buffett has unveiled a new position in HEICO Corporation (HEI), an established aerodefense contractor and emerging competitor to Elon Musk's SpaceX. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B) purchased 1,044,242 shares of HEICO, valued at approximately $185.37 million, marking a 0.07% weighting in the conglomerate's extensive portfolio.
HEICO Corporation: A Silent Giant in Aerospace
Founded in 1957, HEICO Corporation has quietly become a powerhouse in the aerospace, industrial, defense, and electronics industries. The company's commitment to innovation and cost-effective solutions has made its products indispensable components in large commercial, regional, business, and military aircraft. Beyond aviation, HEICO's technology extends to industrial turbines, targeting systems, missiles, and electro-optical devices.
Operating through its Flight Support Group and Electronic Technologies Group, HEICO has positioned itself at the forefront of technological advancements, offering essential solutions across multiple industries. With a market capitalization of over $29 billion and a year-to-date stock price increase of 34.77%, the company has demonstrated robust growth and resilience in a competitive market.
Buffett's Strategic Entry into Aerospace
Buffett's investment in HEICO represents 0.75% of the company's outstanding shares, signaling a significant endorsement from one of the world's most respected investors. This move aligns with Buffett's long-standing strategy of investing in companies with strong fundamentals and growth potential.
The aerospace and defense sector has been gaining investor attention due to increasing global security concerns and the resurgence of air travel post-pandemic. HEICO's diversified portfolio and consistent performance make it an attractive investment for Berkshire Hathaway, known for its cautious yet opportunistic investment approach.
Competing with SpaceX: The New Frontier
HEICO's expansion into areas overlapping with SpaceX's domain adds an intriguing layer to this investment. While SpaceX has been a pioneer in commercial space exploration and satellite deployment, HEICO's advancements in aerospace technology position it as a formidable competitor in certain segments.
HEICO's expertise in electro-optical devices and missile components could play a pivotal role in the burgeoning space defense sector. As nations and private entities race to establish a foothold in space, companies like HEICO are essential in providing the technology and components that make these endeavors possible.
Buffett's investment could be seen as a strategic move to capitalize on the growing opportunities in space-related industries without directly investing in private companies like SpaceX. By backing HEICO, Buffett gains exposure to the sector's potential upside while relying on a company with a proven track record and established market presence.
Other Notable Moves by Buffett
In addition to the HEICO investment, Buffett's recent portfolio adjustments reflect a mix of consolidation and strategic diversification:
New Positions: Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 1.45% stake in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), signaling confidence in the retail beauty sector.
Exits: The conglomerate sold its entire holdings in Snowflake (SNOW) and Paramount Global (PARA). Both companies have faced significant stock declines this year, with Snowflake down 42% and Paramount down 25% year-to-date.
Adjustments: Buffett trimmed 50% of his stake in Apple (AAPL) and reduced his position in Capital One (COF) by 21.27%. Conversely, he increased his holdings in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) by 2.93%, now owning 27.86% of the company, highlighting a bullish stance on the energy sector.
Implications for Investors
Buffett's investment in HEICO underscores a growing interest in the aerospace and defense industries, particularly companies that stand to benefit from increased demand for advanced technology in both commercial and defense applications. His move may prompt investors to re-evaluate the sector's potential, especially as global dynamics shift toward heightened security and technological innovation.
The indirect competition with SpaceX adds a compelling narrative to HEICO's growth prospects. While SpaceX dominates headlines with ambitious projects like Mars colonization and satellite internet services, HEICO's steady advancements in aerospace technology represent a more understated but equally significant contribution to the industry's evolution.
Conclusion
Warren Buffett's new position in HEICO Corporation reflects a strategic investment in a company poised to capitalize on the expanding aerospace and defense sector. By aligning with HEICO, Buffett not only reinforces his investment philosophy of choosing fundamentally strong companies but also positions Berkshire Hathaway to benefit from the industry's future growth.
The move signifies confidence in HEICO's ability to compete in a landscape that includes formidable players like SpaceX. As the race for space and advanced aerospace technology accelerates, HEICO's role as a key component provider could yield substantial returns, validating Buffett's investment decision.
For investors, Buffett's latest moves offer insights into sectors that may offer growth opportunities amid market volatility. As always, his portfolio adjustments are closely watched indicators of potential shifts in market dynamics, making HEICO a company to watch in the coming years.
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Berkshire stock buyback history -
Dec 2019 --- $ 2.0 bil
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Mar 2020 --- $ 1.7 bil
June 2020 -- $ 5.0 bil
Sept 2020 -- $ 9.0 bil
Dec 2020 --- $ 9.0 bil
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Mar 2021 --- $ 6.6 bil
June 2021 -- $ 6.0 bil
Sept 2021 -- $ 7.6 bil
Dec 2021 --- $ 6.9 bil
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Mar 2022 --- $ 3.2 bil
June 2022 -- $ 1.0 bil
Sept 2022 -- $ 1.1 bil
Dec 2022 --- $ 2.6 bil
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Mar 2023 --- $ 4.5 bil
June 2023 -- $ 1.4 bil
Sept 2023 -- $ 1.1 bil
Dec 2023 --- $ 2.2 bil
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Mar 2024 --- $ 2.6 bil
June 2024 -- $ 0.4 bil
Sept 2024 -- $ zero
Dec 2024 --- $ ?
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https://ycharts.com/companies/BRK.A/stock_buyback
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Re-post - >>> Here are all the moves Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B made last quarter:
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175387708
By: TrendSpider | November 14, 2024
• Here are all the moves Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B made last quarter:
Bought $HEI.A, $DPZ, $POOL
Sold $COF, $NU, $SIRI, $BAC, $AAPL, $CHTR, $ULTA, $LSXMK, $LSXMA, $FND
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>>> Warren Buffett is building the Noah's Ark of rainy-day funds. Here's why he's stacked up more than $300 billion.
Business Insider
by Theron Mohamed
November 13, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-building-noahs-ark-195506592.html
Warren Buffett has grown Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile to more than $300 billion — a record high.
The famed investor has halted stock buybacks and pared key holdings such as Apple and Bank of America.
Buffett, 94, is facing a bargain drought and may be preparing to hand over control of Berkshire.
Warren Buffett has been selling shares and stacking up cash at a terrific rate, fanning speculation as to why the world's foremost stock picker is pulling his money out of the market.
Berkshire Hathaway roughly tripled its pile of cash, Treasury bills, and other liquid assets to a record $325 billion over the two years to September 30 (or $310 billion after subtracting almost $15 billion of payables for Treasury bill purchases).
The conglomerate's cash hoard now exceeds Berkshire's total market value just over a decade ago. It accounted for at least 27% of Berkshire's $1.15 trillion of assets at quarter end — the largest proportion in many years.
One big reason for the ballooning cash pile has been a lack of compelling things to buy. Buffett is a value investor who specializes in sniffing out bargains, and those have become rare finds in recent years.
"I have heard every speculative idea imaginable, from accumulating capital for a doomsday scenario to planning to make a gigantic cash dividend," Lawrence Cunningham, the director of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center on Corporate Governance and the author of several books about Buffett and Berkshire, told Business Insider about the rationale for Berkshire's cash pile.
"Both seem far-fetched," he said. "The most likely cause of cash buildup at Berkshire is absence of attractive capital deployment opportunities."
Cunningham said stocks have surged to record highs, private-business valuations have jumped, Berkshire-owned businesses like Geico and See's Candies can only deploy so much money, and Berkshire's Class A shares have climbed to record levels of about $700,000.
Hot stocks
The US stock market's total value hit a record high of $58.13 trillion on Monday, an unprecedented 198.1% of US GDP last quarter, Wilshire Indexes data shows.
That metric is known as the "Buffett Indicator" because the investor once hailed it as an excellent yardstick for valuations. Buffett said it should have been a "very strong warning signal" when the measure spiked during the dot-com bubble, and buying stocks when it nears 200% is "playing with fire."
The Wilshire 5000's elevated level makes "this stock market the most overvalued in history — even higher than at the peak of the tech bubble in 2001-2002," Paul Dietrich, chief investment strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management, told BI.
It may be little surprise, then, that Buffett didn't buy back a single Berkshire share last quarter after spending $20 billion on repurchases between the start of 2022 and June 30 this year — likely because he and his team no longer see their company's stock as good value.
His team has also been paring Berkshire's stock portfolio. They sold $133 billion of stock — a sum that exceeds Citigroup's market cap — in the first nine months of this year, and bought less than $6 billion worth over the same period.
They cut Apple, their most valuable holding, by 60% in that timeframe. They also trimmed Bank of America, their number-two holding, by 23% between mid-July and early October.
Less buying and more selling fueled a $140 billion-plus increase in Berkshire's cash hoard in the nine months to September 30.
Frustration and preparation
There are other possible explanations for Berkshire's towering cash pile. Buffett suggested in May that a potential increase in capital gains tax factored into his decision to realize some of his massive gain on Apple — although Donald Trump's reelection is expected to stave off a near-term increase.
The "Oracle of Omaha" is earning much more on Treasury bills now than three years ago when interest rates were close to zero. On September 30 Berkshire owned $288 billion worth — more than the Federal Reserve.
The 94-year-old billionaire may be crystallizing some of his gains on winning bets like Apple to safeguard his legacy. He might also be cleaning up his portfolio and setting aside cash in anticipation of Greg Abel, the boss of Berkshire's non-insurance operations, succeeding him as CEO.
David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland who's been following Buffett for nearly 40 years, suggested the investor may be "preparing for the transition to Greg Abel and enabling him to decide how to invest those funds, along with Ted Weschler and Todd Combs," referring to Buffett's two investment managers.
Buffett might also be socking away money because he sees trouble ahead.
"He has a history of selling out of the stock market when the leading economic indicators, inverted treasury yields, and his famous Buffett Indicator are signaling a bear market or a recession is coming," Dietrich said.
Buffett could tap his cash pile to rebuy Apple and other stocks he's sold at a significant discount "after the current nose-bleed stock market highs eventually come back down to earth," Dietrich added.
Whether Buffett is purposely building the Noah's Ark of rainy-day funds because he expects a crash or economic collapse, or has simply been priced out of markets, he's poised to have plenty of firepower to once again scoop up cut-price stocks and businesses if a downturn does materialize.
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>>> Buffett’s Berkshire Is Being Packaged Into a Leveraged ETF
Bloomberg
by Miles Weiss and Youkyung Lee
November 12, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/buffett-berkshire-being-packaged-leveraged-193611168.html
(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett created Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Class B shares almost 30 years ago to stymie money managers who sought to split the high-priced conglomerate’s stock.
One of South Korea’s largest retail brokerages now plans to package the Class B shares into an exchange-traded fund turbocharged with derivatives, another move that Buffett might not like.
Kiwoom Securities Co. teamed up with Milwaukee-based Tidal Investments to form an ETF designed to provide 200% the daily performance of Berkshire, according to a regulatory filing.
Single-stock ETFs such as this have been sweeping the fund world, using leverage that amps up the potential returns — and losses — of high-flyers such as Nvidia Corp. and Tesla Inc. In South Korea, brokerages such as Toss Securities and Mirae Asset Securities Co. have been seeking to capitalize on rising demand for US stocks amid sluggish performance by domestic equities.
“Traditionally on the leveraged ETFs, the lion’s share of the interest and asset flow has been on the more volatile names,” Gavin Filmore, chief revenue officer for Tidal, said in an interview. “Berkshire is almost the polar opposite.”
Leveraged ETFs are often meant for active traders who want to bet on a stock’s performance for no more than a single day, as these funds typically veer off course when tracking shares over a longer period. The use of derivatives to juice Berkshire returns might not sit well with Buffett, who once called them “financial weapons of mass destruction.”
While Buffett’s firm is a well-known name, it remains to be seen whether day traders will have an appetite to ride a steady stock such as this one with this type of leveraged strategy. Buffett is known as the ultimate long-term investor who advises people to own stocks they’d be comfortable holding for years.
Buffett, 94, and his firm already have a following in South Korea. As of Nov. 8, individual investors in South Korea owned more than $800 million worth of Berkshire Class A and Class B shares, according to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository.
Asian markets “have a penchant for Berkshire,” said Matthew Palazola, an insurance analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
A Kiwoom representative declined to comment. Representatives for Berkshire didn’t reply to a message seeking comment.
Retail investors in South Korea have embraced some of the largest leveraged ETFs listed in the US. The Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares, a single-stock ETF for Tesla stock, has taken in $225 million so far this year from South Korean retail investors, raising their total stake in the ETF to $1.2 billion as of Nov. 8, according to depository data.
While Kick BRK 2X Long Daily Target, as it’s known, would be the first Berkshire single-stock ETF in the US, several others trade abroad. Still, they’ve failed to gain much of a following: Leverage Shares 2x Long Berkshire Hathaway ETP Securities, which trades on several European exchanges, only has about $2.3 million of assets.
Kiwoom’s new ETF would buy Berkshire Class B shares and then issue its own stock to investors, potentially at a much lower price than the $467.36 that each Class B share sold for as of market close on Monday. To amplify its exposure to Berkshire’s daily returns, the ETF will enter into swaps with broker dealers and also trade listed options on the Omaha, Nebraska company’s B shares.
The Berkshire ETF would be a Kiwoom product that Tidal runs behind the scenes in exchange for a portion of management fees.
‘Stained Reputation’
Wall Street’s efforts to create an early version of a single-stock fund for Berkshire shares spurred Buffett to create the company’s Class B shares almost three decades ago. At the time, Berkshire had only one class of stock that traded for more than $30,000 a share, and ETFs were in their infancy.
In 1995, Philadelphia politician Sam Katz filed papers to create a unit investment trust, a fund-like vehicle that buys a fixed portfolio of stocks and bonds up front and then holds the securities for a set period. He wrote that the trust would provide “convenient and affordable access to the common stock of Berkshire Hathaway without the requirement to own full shares.”
Berkshire threatened to put the trust out of business by doing a stock split, setting up its own trust or creating a second share class, Katz said in an interview.
Buffett made good on that last threat by issuing Class B shares equal to 1/30th of a Class A share. Investors flocked to the new stock, rendering trusts such as Katz’s obsolete.
In a 1996 letter to shareholders, Buffett warned that such trusts were “expense laden” vehicles that brokers would market “en masse to unsophisticated buyers” in order to earn big commissions. That would have burdened Berkshire “with both hundreds of thousands of unhappy, indirect owners (trustholders, that is) and a stained reputation.”
Katz said he doesn’t have any regrets: “How many guys do you know who get to do battle with Warren Buffett?”
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>>> Does Warren Buffett Know Something That We Don’t?
The Wall Street Journal
by Spencer Jakab
11-11-24
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/does-warren-buffett-know-something-that-we-don-t/ar-AA1tRVHv?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds
When the world’s most-followed investor doesn’t feel comfortable investing, should the rest of us be worried?
Warren Buffett, who has quipped that his favorite holding period for a stock is “forever,” continues to have substantial money at work in American companies. But he has never taken this much off the table either—a whopping $325 billion in cash and equivalents, mostly in the form of Treasury bills.
To appreciate the immensity of that hoard, consider that it would allow Berkshire to write a check, with change left over, for all but the 25 or so most-valuable listed U.S. corporations—iconic ones such as Walt Disney, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, General Electric or AT&T. In addition to letting the dividends and interest pile up on its balance sheet, the conglomerate has aggressively sold down two of its largest shareholdings, Apple and Bank of America, in the past several months. And, for the first time in six years, it has stopped buying more of the stock it knows best—Berkshire Hathaway.
Does that mean mere investing mortals should be cautious about the market? Maybe, but it tells us even more about Berkshire.
Buffett and his late business partner Charlie Munger didn’t outperform the stock market 140-fold by being market-timers. Probably Munger’s most famous quote is his first rule of compounding: “Never interrupt it unnecessarily.” Investors who follow Berkshire closely and hope for a bit of its magic to rub off on their portfolios pay very close attention to what it is buying and selling, but much less to when.
Yet the seemingly always optimistic and patient Buffett has turned cautious before, famously shutting his extremely successful partnership in 1969 when he said markets were too frothy and also building up substantial cash in the years leading up to the global financial crisis—money he deployed opportunistically.
“He’s cognizant of the fact that markets gyrate and go to extremes,” says Adam J. Mead, a New Hampshire money manager and Buffetologist who is the author of “The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway.”
Stock values being stretched doesn’t mean they are on the precipice of a crash or even a bear market. Instead, zoom out and look at what today’s valuations say about returns over the next several years, which will include both good and bad periods. Goldman Sachs strategist David Kostin predicted recently that the S&P 500’s return over the next decade would average just 3% a year—less than a third of the postwar pace.
Kostin’s report went over like a record scratch at a time of high investor optimism, but it is consistent with other forecasts. Giant asset manager Vanguard recently predicted an annual return range of 3% to 5% for large U.S. stocks and just 0.1% to 2.1% for growth stocks over a decade. And Prof. Robert Shiller’s cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio is consistent with an average return of about 0.5% a year after inflation—similar to Kostin’s projection.
Then there is the even simpler “Buffett Indicator,” which the Oracle of Omaha once called “probably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment.” There are variants on the theme, but it is basically a ratio of all listed stocks to the size of the U.S. economy. Taking the Wilshire 5000 Index as a proxy it is now around 200%, which would leave it more stretched than at the peak of the tech bubble.
With T-bills now yielding more than the prospective return on stocks, it might seem that Buffett has taken as many chips off of the table as possible since there is no upside in risky stocks. But he is on record saying that he would love to spend it.
“What we’d really like to do is buy great businesses,” he said at Berkshire’s 2023 annual meeting. “If we could buy a company for $50 billion or $75 billion, $100 billion, we could do it.”
With Berkshire now worth $1 trillion, it would take a deal of that size to move the needle. Mead explains that a transaction matching acquisitions like 2010’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe deal or the 1998 acquisition of insurer General Re would be worth $100 billion scaled to today’s balance sheet.
Could it also mean that Buffett sees value in keeping dry powder ahead of the next crisis or general froth in the market? Yes, but he isn’t saying, and individual investors also have more options than he does. First of all, we don’t have to pay a 20% or more premium to the market price to invest in a business like Berkshire would in a takeover. We also can sail in much shallower waters and smaller ponds. For example, Vanguard’s 10-year projections range from 7% to 9% a year for non-U.S. developed market stocks and 5% to 7% for U.S. small capitalization stocks. Other than a very profitable bet on Japanese trading companies in recent years, though, Buffett has kept his money mostly stateside and likely will continue to do so.
Changes at Berkshire are inevitable, though—and not just because the 94-year-old is nearing the end of his remarkable career. Buffett hasn’t hesitated to return cash to shareholders, almost exclusively through stock buybacks, yet he clearly deems even his own stock too pricey for that.
Berkshire also has reached a size at which it can’t replicate its long-run record of deploying its profits and handily beating the market. It is going to have to hand money back somehow—probably through a dividend, reckons Mead. Eventually it becomes necessary to interrupt compounding.
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25 year chart of Berkshire's cash position as a % of total assets -
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175361608
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>>> Berkshire Hathaway is dumping Apple stock and building its cash stockpile to record highs because Warren Buffett believes the government will raise capital gains taxes soon
Fortune
by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
November 4, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaway-dumping-apple-stock-190102086.html
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash reserves are at an all-time high of $325.2 billion as Warren Buffett quickly exits what has been one of his most profitable trades of the past decade.
The Oracle of Omaha and his conglomerate holding company Berkshire started to offload shares of Apple late last year, paring down a major bet on the tech company that it opened in 2016.
Berkshire picked up its selling pace earlier this year and by the end of the second quarter, it had halved its stake in Apple, the Financial Times reported, helping to bring its cash reserve to an all-time-high of $277 billion at the time.
But by the end of the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway smashed its previous cash record by selling another quarter of its stake in the tech company, or 100 million shares, bringing its total shares to 300 million, down from 400 million.
In just over a year, the company has sold more than two-thirds of its stake in Apple. Although the tech company is still its top holding at $69.9 billion worth of shares, at its peak, Apple made up $178 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.
The Apple-selling frenzy comes as Buffett has pared down his equity holdings across the board over the past two years. In the third quarter, Berkshire bought just $1.5 billion worth of stocks, making it a net seller of equities for the eighth consecutive quarter, CNN reported.
Berkshire’s $325.2 billion in cash and short-term treasuries now outweigh the market value of its equities, which stood at $271.6 billion as of the end of the third quarter, according to its most recent earnings report. While some have questioned Berkshire's big stock sales, over the last three years the company has done just fine, with its shares rising 52%, outpacing the S&P 500's 22% increase over the same period.
Part of the reason for the massive equity sale lies in Buffett’s prediction that the capital-gains tax rate will increase over the next several years, possibly to help pay down the federal deficit, which stood at about 122% of the country’s GDP as of 2023.
“I would say with present fiscal policies I think that something has to give and I think that higher taxes are quite likely,” Buffett said during Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in May.
Vice President Kamala Harris has said that if elected president, she would raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has vowed to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% for companies that produce products in the U.S.
While Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway would retain Apple as its largest investment, he added that he wanted to keep more cash on hand.
“But I don’t mind at all, under current conditions, building the cash position,” Buffett said in May. “I think when I look at the alternative of what’s available in the equity markets and I look at the composition of what’s going on in the world, we find it quite attractive.”
While Buffett said at the May meeting that the capital-gains tax rate, which is paid by investors when they sell an asset like stocks, is likely to rise, he is ultimately not concerned.
“We always hope at Berkshire to pay substantial federal income taxes, we think it's appropriate,” he said.
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OXY is now below 50, so I wonder if Buffett is still adding to his large position?
>>> Oil Prices Are Falling. Here's Why That's Becoming Less of a Concern for Occidental Petroleum.
by Matt DiLallo
Motley Fool
October 30, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-prices-falling-heres-why-091400527.html
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) is one of the country's largest oil and gas producers. It recently increased its exposure to the oil market by acquiring CrownRock in a $12 billion deal. That acquisition will add $1 billion to the company's annual free cash flow, assuming oil prices average around $70 a barrel. Unfortunately for Occidental, crude prices have recently slumped below that level.
While lower oil prices will affect the company's cash flow in the near term, they'll have less of an effect on its earnings in the future. Here's what's driving its reduced reliance on oil and gas to fuel its results.
Drilling down into how Occidental Petroleum makes money
Occidental Petroleum is a more diversified energy company than many of its peers in the oil patch. In addition to producing oil and gas, Occidental has a chemicals business, called OxyChem, and a midstream and marketing segment. However, the company currently makes most of its money from oil and gas production. For example, Occidental's oil and gas segment produced $1.6 billion of pre-tax income during the second quarter. For comparison, OxyChem's earnings were $296 million, and its midstream and marketing segment's earnings were $116 million.
Higher oil prices helped boost Occidental's earnings during the second quarter. Pre-tax earnings from the oil and gas segment were up $400 million compared to the first quarter, thanks to a 5% improvement in oil prices. The company also got a boost from higher oil and gas production, which exceeded the midpoint of its guidance.
However, oil prices have fallen sharply over the past few months. Crude was recently under $70 a barrel, well below the nearly $80 average it captured during the second quarter. Now the company's earnings and cash flow are likely to decline in the second half of this year.
The path to $1 billion (and beyond)
Occidental is working to mute the impact of oil price volatility by increasing its free cash flow from non-oil components. The company has a clear line of sight to add more than $1 billion of incremental annual free cash flow by the second half of 2026 from areas beyond oil and gas.
For example, its investment in Western Midstream Partners (NYSE: WES) could supply $240 million of incremental cash flow by 2027 as the master limited partnership (MLP) increases its distribution. Western Midstream recently provided investors with a monster raise of 52%, driven by acquisitions, asset sales to strengthen its balance sheet, and organic expansion projects. As the largest investor in the MLP, Occidental receives the lion's share of its lucrative and growing distribution payments.
In addition, Occidental Petroleum is repaying debt as it matures. The company expects to retire $3.7 billion of debt through 2026, which will reduce interest expenses by $180 million. Meanwhile, the company's midstream business has several high-cost contracts nearing expiration. As they expire, they should save the company about $400 million by 2027. Finally, OxyChem is investing heavily in plant enhancements and the modernization and expansion of its Battleground complex. These investments should add about $325 million to its free cash flow total by 2027.
On top of all that, Occidental is building out a carbon capture and storage business (CCS). It's currently constructing the STRATOS project, the world's largest direct air capture (DAC) facility, to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It expects to complete the project by the middle of next year. The company is commercializing STRATOS by selling carbon credits to customers desiring to offset their emissions. Occidental has several other DAC projects under development. In addition, it's working to develop sequestration hubs to permanently store carbon dioxide. Occidental believes it can eventually make as much money from CCS as it currently does from producing oil and gas.
Growing less reliant on oil
Crude prices are the main factor fueling Occidental's earnings these days. However, oil won't have as much of an impact on the company's earnings in the future. It has a visible path to add an incremental $1 billion to its free cash flow from non-oil sources by the second half of 2026. In addition, it's building out a CCS platform that could be a major future contributor. These catalysts will help reduce the volatility of the company's earnings in the future, which should make it a less risky oil stock.
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Occidental - >>> Warren Buffett's $13 billion bet on Occidental Petroleum turns sour as oil prices hit a 3-year low
Business Insider
by Matthew Fox
September 12, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffetts-13-billion-bet-235939676.html
Occidental Petroleum shares have dropped 29% since mid-April, impacting Warren Buffett's stake in the company.
The decline aligns with a 23% drop in crude oil prices on concerns about demand and excess supply.
Berkshire Hathaway's $13 billion stake in Occidental Petroleum may be underwater, based on estimates.
A steady decline in oil prices this year has led to one of Warren Buffett's big stock bets to turn sour.
Shares of Occidental Petroleum have plunged 29% since mid-April and are down 15% year-to-date, trading just above the $50 level on Thursday at 10:04 a.m.
The price decline in Occidental shares has coincided with a 23% decline in crude oil prices since mid-April.
Oil has been under pressure due to demand concerns tied to a cooling US economy and excess supply thanks to record production by US oil firms.
The sharp decline in Occidental Petroleum stock is a blow to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which has been amassing a stake in the oil producer since early 2022.
Buffett went on a buying streak of Occidental Petroleum in June, purchasing millions of shares around the $60 level. The conglomerate owns a 29% stake in the oil company, worth about $13 billion.
The $55-$60 level has acted as a floor for Occidental Petroleum stock since Buffett started buying it in 2022, but for the first time in more than two years, that floor has been taken out.
The hedge fund tracking website HedgeFollowe estimates that Berkshire Hathaway paid an average price of $51.22 for its stake, which is about 1% above the stock's current price.
To be clear, the average price Berkshire Hathaway paid for its Occidental Petroleum stake is only known by Berkshire Hathaway itself.
Another sign that Berkshire Hathaway's Occidental Petroleum bet is souring is based on the warrants it owns to purchase additional shares.
Chris Bloomstran, fund manager of Semper Augustus and longtime investor in Berkshire Hathaway, told Business Insider that Buffett owns warrants to buy another 83.5 million shares of Occidental Petroleum at a strike price of $59.62, which is nearly 20% above the current price.
As to whether Buffett will take advantage of the recent dip in Occidental Petroleum shares and buy, it's possible, according to Bloomstran, but he won't take over the company.
"I wouldn't rule out a purchase of additional shares," Bloomstran said, highlighting that the conglomerate has plenty of "firepower" given its recent sales of Apple and Bank of America stock.
"Warren has said he won't buy the whole company and I don't think he'll change his mind on that," Bloomstran added.
Buffett likely wants to see Occidental Petroleum initiate a stock buyback program of its shares, according to Bloomstran, but Occidental CEO, Vicki Hollub, said the company wouldn't do that until it's paid down a big chunk of its outstanding debt.
On Occidental Petroleum's latest earnings call, Hollub said the firms wants to pay down its debt to $15 billion before initiating a stock buyback, which could be "doable by the end of 2026 or first of 2027."
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>>> Berkshire's cash soars to $325 billion, Buffett sells Apple, Bank of America
Reuters
By Jonathan Stempel
November 2, 2024
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/berkshires-cash-sets-record-buffett-sells-apple-bofa-operating-profit-falls-2024-11-02/
Operating profit falls 6%, no stock buybacks
Net income tops $26 billion on investment gains
More than 600 million Apple shares sold in 2024
Nov 2 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa), opens new tab extended their retreat from stocks in the third quarter, further slashing holdings in Apple (AAPL), opens new tab and boosting cash to a record $325.2 billion.
In its quarterly report on Saturday, Berkshire said it sold about 100 million, or 25%, of its Apple shares over the summer, ending with about 300 million.
Berkshire has now sold more than 600 million of the iPhone maker's shares in 2024, though Apple remained its largest stock holding, at $69.9 billion.
It sold $36.1 billion of stock overall, including several billion dollars of Bank of America (BAC), opens new tab shares, and bought just $1.5 billion.
That made the quarter the eighth straight where Berkshire was a net seller of stocks.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate also conducted no stock buybacks for the first time since the second quarter of 2018, and did not repurchase stock in the first three weeks of October.
"Berkshire is a microcosm of the broader economy," said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research in New York. "Its hoarding cash suggests a 'risk-off' mindset, and investors may worry what it means for the economy and markets."
The Class A shares of Berkshire are up 25% this year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 has risen 20%.
Rising valuations have fueled concerns among some investors that many stocks have become too expensive.
Berkshire's cash stake grew from $276.9 billion at the end of June, and is more than 10 times the $30 billion cushion that Buffett has pledged to maintain.
Buffett has made no major acquisitions of whole companies for his $975 billion company since 2016.
Jim Shanahan, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, said the swelling cash hoard "begs questions about whether Buffett thinks stocks are overvalued or an economic downturn is coming, or is trying to build cash for a big acquisition."
In May, Buffett said he expected Apple to remain Berkshire's largest stock investment, but selling made sense because the 21% federal tax rate on gains would likely grow.
OPERATING PROFIT FALLS
Berkshire's quarterly operating profit declined 6% to $10.09 billion, or about $7,019 per Class A share, missing analyst estimates of $7,611 per share according to LSEG IBES.
The decline stemmed largely from underwriting losses on older insurance policies, insurance claims related to Hurricane Helene in September, and currency losses from a strengthening U.S. dollar.
These offset improved profitability at the Geico car insurer, where accident claims fell. Profit also rose at the BNSF railroad, which shipped more consumer goods, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy, where operating expenses declined.
Seifert said Berkshire has long benefited from its diversification but suffered "multi-pronged" weakness in the quarter.
This included a 19% revenue decline at the Pilot truck stop chain, where fuel prices and marketing volumes fell. Berkshire also said "almost all" of its retail businesses, including its more than 80 car dealerships, are seeing revenue declines.
Net income totaled $26.25 billion, compared with a year-earlier $12.77 billion loss, reflecting unrealized gains and losses in stock investments such as Apple.
This adds volatility to net results that Buffett urges investors to ignore, and instead focus on operating performance.
HELENE, MILTON
Profit from insurance underwriting fell 69%, dented by losses from older policies, $565 million from Helene, and a bankruptcy settlement tied to a defunct talc supplier. This more than offset a 93% jump in Geico's underwriting profit.
Shanahan called the policy losses a "big surprise," while Seifert said many of Berkshire's peers have already addressed similar issues. "This stands out by making Berkshire appear to be a laggard," she said.
Berkshire also projected $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion of pre-tax losses in the fourth quarter from Hurricane Milton, which slammed into Florida in October.
Investment income at Berkshire's insurance businesses, which hold much of Berkshire's cash, rose 48% to $3.66 billion.
Such gains should decline if the Federal Reserve continues lowering interest rates, or Buffett finds something big worth buying.
Buffett "wants to invest every penny he can in businesses that provide Berkshire an advantage. But at the same time he's willing to do nothing," said Tom Russo, a principal at Gardner Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who has invested in Berkshire since 1982.
"He'll be there ready and loaded when other investors are despairing or capital-constrained," Russo added.
Berkshire's operations also include many industrial and manufacturing companies, a big real estate brokerage, and retail businesses such as Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.
On Oct. 31, Berkshire finished purchasing the 8% of Berkshire Hathaway Energy it did not already own.
Buffett, 94, has led Berkshire since 1965. He is expected to eventually transfer leadership to Vice Chairman Greg Abel, 62.
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Chubb - >>> The Oracle of Omaha can't stop buying shares of a high-flying financial leader
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-warren-buffett-sold-26-090600786.html
Though Warren Buffett has been a very selective buyer for two years, there is one stock he's spent even more money purchasing over the last year than his favorite stock, Berkshire Hathaway. I'm talking about market-leading property & casualty insurer Chubb (NYSE: CB).
On rare occasion, Buffett will request confidential treatment for one or more securities, which keeps these securities from being listed in Berkshire Hathaway's quarterly 13Fs. Being granted confidential treatment by regulators allows Buffett and his top investment advisors to build sizable stakes in public companies at a lower cost basis. When investors find out which stock(s) Buffet and his team have been buying, it's not uncommon for them to pile in and drive up the share price.
Between July 1, 2023 and March 30, 2024, Berkshire Hathaway was granted confidential treatment for its position in Chubb. On May 15, Berkshire's 13F spilled the beans on this position, which stands at north of 27 million shares, as of June 30, and is currently worth about $7.8 billion.
Since Chubb's initial public offering (IPO) in 1984, shares of the company have skyrocketed by 33,000%, inclusive of dividends.
The lure of top-tier insurance stocks like Chubb is the predictability of their cash flow and their premium pricing power. Catastrophe losses and adverse events are inevitable, which affords insurers the ability to raise premiums after these events, as well as during periods of lower-than-expected claims.
To add to the above, some of Chubb's insurance products are geared toward high-earning clientele. For instance, its homeowner insurance solutions are prominently focused on high-value homes. The advantage of targeting high-income clientele is that their spending habits, including their ability to pay their bills, doesn't change much, if at all, during minor economic downturns.
Don't overlook the positive role that higher Treasury yields have played for Chubb, either. Insurance companies almost always invest their float, which is the portion of premium collected that isn't disbursed as a claim, in ultra-safe, short-term Treasury bills. Even with the Fed kicking off a rate-easing cycle, short-term T-bill yields are considerably higher than where they were three years ago. This means more interest income for Chubb.
Lastly, Warren Buffett is a huge fan of robust capital-return programs. In May, Chubb's board increased the company's base annual payout for a 31st consecutive year. Further, Chubb has been consistently buying back its common stock since the start of 2017, which has reduced its outstanding share count by 13.6%. Spending billions of dollars on buybacks is lifting Chubb's earnings per share (EPS) and incrementally increasing the ownership stakes of existing shareholders, like Berkshire Hathaway.
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>>> Sirius XM Stock: Buy, Sell, or Hold?
by Dan Victor
Motley Fool
September 18, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sirius-xm-stock-buy-sell-134500699.html
Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI) investors have struggled to lock onto a signal from the satellite radio giant. The stock is down 55% this year amid disappointing results with concerns about whether the company can manage to move the dial toward stronger growth.
The good news is that the company remains a category leader with an audience of over 150 million listeners across its platforms. The potential that Sirius XM finally gets its strategy right highlights the attraction of the stock with a significant opportunity to monetize next-generation audio formats.
Let's discuss what investors should do with Sirius XM stock now.
The case to sell Sirius XM stock now
The way people consume media has rapidly changed in the past two decades. Unfortunately for Sirius XM, the company has been on the wrong side of the audio revolution as satellite radio largely fell behind the rise of streaming-music alternatives.
Recognizing the advantages of a satellite broadcast, particularly compared to terrestrial radio, the technology appears redundant next to the proliferation of broadband-mobile internet. It's been a tough sell for Sirius XM to convert listeners with its premium price point when most people are already connected to the internet via their smartphone device offering access to multiple audio options.
Despite partnering with global-auto manufacturers to feature Sirius XM as an in-vehicle audio option, the company's flagship radio service has been in decline for the last several years. Compared to a record 34.91 million subscribers in 2019, the company last reported 33 million paying users in the second quarter, down 100,000 in the past year.
The trends from the smaller-streaming Pandora segment and other off-platform services haven't been any better. The 6 million paid Pandora subscribers this past quarter was down by 41,000 from a year ago.
Similarly, financials have struggled. Q2 revenue declined by 3% year over year, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were flat compared to 2023. For the full year, the company expects revenue to decline by around 2% with an adjusted EBITDA target for 2024 at $2.75 billion, down 3.2%. These dynamics help explain the fundamental challenges the company faces. Investors skeptical that Sirius XM can orchestrate a turnaround have plenty of reasons to sell the stock.
The case to buy Sirius XM stock
It's easy to get caught up in the poor headlines, but it's also important to consider the strong points of any outlook. Beyond the soft operating trends, Sirius XM remains profitable and generates significant free cash flow, expected to be around $1.2 billion this year.
The plan is to reduce the balance sheet debt position and invest toward growth. On Sep. 9, Sirius XM completed its split-off and merger transaction with Liberty Media which included a 1-for-10 reverse split. This means that shareholders of the stock received one new share for every 10 shares they owned.
The deal, announced last year, simplifies the equity structure and should provide the now independent Sirus XM Holdings Group more strategic flexibility that can hopefully translate into improved shareholder returns. The stock yields 4% through a quarterly dividend that management intends to maintain.
The business isn't growing as expected, but there is a sense of stability supported by a loyal listener base. Instead of attempting to compete with larger players like Spotify Technology for on-demand music streaming, Sirius XM differentiates itself with more curated content that is now available on a stand-alone mobile app separate from the in-vehicle satellite-radio product. The company is betting on a younger demographic growth audience seen as more willing to spend on multiple services.
The bullish case for the stock starts with the company's ability to expand advertising opportunities from its high-profile podcasts along with exclusive live sports broadcasting. With shares of Sirius XM trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8, investors who are confident there are better days ahead can consider buying the stock at what appears to be a bargain level.
Decision time for Sirius XM stock
My prediction is that the number of uncertainties surrounding Sirius XM will keep shares volatile. With the stock already losing more than half its value this year, it's probably too late to sell since many of the negatives are already priced in. The big risk is if conditions deteriorate further. At the same time, it will likely take evidence sales and accelerating subscriber trends for the stock to sustain a big rally. I believe a hold rating makes sense for current shareholders while investors on the sidelines should avoid it for now.
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>>> Berkshire Hathaway’s Jain Sells Over Half of Class A Shares
Bloomberg
by Alexandre Rajbhandari
September 12, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaway-jain-sells-over-143854442.html
(Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s vice chair of insurance operations, Ajit Jain, sold $139 million worth of his Class A shares in Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.
Jain, one of Buffett’s top lieutenants, disposed of 200 of the Class A shares for about $695,418 each, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The disposal means the longterm executive is left with control of 166 such shares, 61 of which he directly owns.
When reached by phone, Jain declined to comment. Berkshire Hathaway didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move marks a shift for Jain, who added 50 Class A shares to his holding between March 2023 and March this year. Still, he has been trimming his Class B stake in the conglomerate over the years, selling more than 70,000 such shares from March 2020 to March 2024, according to past proxy filings.
The executive joined Berkshire Hathaway in 1986 to work on the conglomerate’s insurance operations, which include car insurer GEICO.
Buffett has long praised Jain, saying in 2017 that he’s probably made more money for Berkshire than Buffett has. In 2018, Jain and Greg Abel were named vice chairmen of the firm, with Abel, who’s a decade younger than Jain, eventually being tapped as Buffett’s successor.
Investors have questioned whether Jain would stick around to help Abel run things once Buffett, now 94, leaves the firm. Jain still owns more Class B shares than Abel.
“We continue to be comfortable that the interests of Mr. Jain and Mr. Abel are aligned with shareholders,” James Shanahan, an analyst at Edward Jones who covers Berkshire Hathaway, told Bloomberg.
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BAC - >>> Warren Buffett Just Sold Another $3.1 Billion Worth of One of Berkshire Hathaway's Largest Holdings. Here's Why.
Decoding Warren Buffett's stake reductions in Apple, BofA
Motley Fool
by Adam Levy
Sep 9, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-just-sold-another-220100936.html
Warren Buffett hasn't seen a lot to like in the stock market in quite some time. In each of the last seven quarters, Buffett sold more stock from Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio than new purchases. And it looks like he's about to make it a full two years.
Last quarter, Buffett cut his company's massive position in Apple nearly in half. It was, by far, the biggest stock sale in the history of Berkshire Hathaway, amounting to roughly $72.6 billion. This quarter, Buffett has turned his attention to Berkshire's second-largest holding. At least, it used to be.
While we normally have to wait until Berkshire's quarterly filings with the SEC to see what moves the Oracle of Omaha and his team are making in the company's portfolio, there are some special exceptions. When an investor owns more than 10% of a publicly traded company, it must publicly report every stock purchase or sale within three days. That's why we know Buffett's been selling Berkshire's stake in Bank of America.
After selling $3.8 billion worth of the stock between July 17 and Aug. 1, Buffett sold another $3.1 billion in late August and early September. The value of Berkshire's holding has gone from $41.1 billion at the end of the second quarter to about $34 billion today.
Here's why Buffett may be selling Bank of America stock.
Making a bank withdrawal
At last year's Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, Buffett expressed his concerns about the banking industry. This was right after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and Buffett expressed the idea that banking has changed substantially over the decades and will continue to change. The Silicon Valley bank run demonstrates that in the digital age, a bank run can happen in a matter of seconds. "If people think that deposits are sticky anymore, they're just living in a different era," he said.
Later, Buffett explained it's impossible to predict how the banking industry will change due to competing incentives from politicians, big bankers, consumers, and practically any other economic actor. But he said he does like one bank — Bank of America. "I like the management," he said.
He added a note about Berkshire's stock holding as well. "I proposed the deal with them, so I stick with it."
It's one thing to stick with a stock because you like the business and the management. It's another to stick with it out of loyalty to a decision made over a decade ago. Perhaps Buffett recognized that fallacy earlier this year as he turned his focus to taking gains on some of his biggest investments
As mentioned, Buffett sold a huge amount of Apple stock earlier this year. His reasoning, as he explained at this year's shareholder meeting, was his expectation that corporate tax rates will increase in the near future. It's better to take the gains now and pay the tax bill.
Of course, that only makes sense if the stock is trading for what Buffett asserts is its intrinsic value (or greater). So, he wouldn't liquidate everything Berkshire holds. He may have sold Bank of America stock this quarter as its valuation has climbed, and he holds a significant gain on the stock. He bought a good portion of Berkshire's Bank of America holdings for just $7.14 per share. The average sales price so far this quarter has been $41.25. On 150 million shares, that's over $5 billion in realized gains.
Should investors sell with Buffett?
Bank of America stock has performed well this year amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates. It looks like those rate cuts are finally coming to fruition, with the Fed expected to announce its first rate cut since 2020 later this month.
The bank suffered amid rising interest rates due to holding bonds on its balance sheet with longer-than-average durations. As such, the value of those bonds declined as the Fed raised rates. Meanwhile, Bank of America was stuck holding low-interest bonds while the market forced it to pay higher short-term interest rates. As a result, net interest income declined considerably.
But management believes it's hit a trough on net interest income, and the metric should start turning around next year. Bank of America should see an outsized benefit from declining interest rates as it still holds many long-duration bonds.
Furthermore, Buffett's concern about how "sticky" deposits are with the bank is less of a factor for Bank of America, considering its one of the biggest banks in the country, making it a Global Systemically Important Bank, G-SIB. That status gives depositors much more confidence in the bank and the systems protecting it.
The stock currently trades around its five-year average price to tangible book value, indicating it's probably fairly valued. Thus, it makes sense for Buffett to take advantage of the currently low tax rate, but investors interested in bank stocks may have a good opportunity to buy a great bank well positioned for declining interest rates.
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OXY, MA, ULTA - >>> 3 Value Stocks to Buy as Berkshire Hathaway Hit an All-Time High on Warren Buffett's Birthday
by Daniel Foelber
Motley Fool
Sep 9, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-value-stocks-buy-berkshire-083000492.html
Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) stock price hit an all-time high on Aug. 30 -- Warren Buffett's 94th birthday -- before proceeding to rise even higher on Sept. 3 despite a 2.1% sell-off in the S&P 500. The shares of the giant conglomerate are now up more than 27% year to date, outperforming both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite by a wide margin.
Its portfolio managers have been on something of a selling spree lately -- making a large reduction in its Apple stake earlier this year and trimming its Bank of America position by 14.5% since mid-July.
However, Berkshire has maintained a sizable holding in oil and natural gas exploration and production company Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), owns American Express, Visa, and Mastercard (NYSE: MA), and initiated a position in Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) earlier this summer.
Here's why Occidental Petroleum, Mastercard, and Ulta stand out as three top value stocks to buy now.
Oxy can rake in the cash even at mediocre oil prices
Berkshire Hathaway owns 27.3% of Occidental Petroleum -- commonly referred to as Oxy. That stake, Berkshire's sixth-largest public equity holding, is worth more than $14 billion. But Oxy hasn't been a very good investment of late. The stock is hovering around a 52-week low.
Oil prices affect the fortunes of the entire oil and natural gas value chain, but especially exploration and production companies like Oxy that build their businesses around selling hydrocarbons for more than it costs to get those resources out of the ground. Unfortunately for Oxy and its peers, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil -- the U.S. benchmark -- just fell below $70 a barrel to its lowest level so far this year.
Although Oxy can break even at a much lower oil price, $70 is significant because Oxy has based some of its key decisions around the assumption that prices will be at or above that level. In its fourth-quarter 2023 investor presentation, it used that threshold to predict year-one free cash flow (FCF) from its $12 billion acquisition of CrownRock. The lower the oil price, the lower the FCF, and the worse the acquisition will look -- at least in the short term. The good news is that CrownRock has plenty of acreage where the estimated breakeven levels are below $60 per barrel for WTI.
Oxy has also done an excellent job improving the health of its balance sheet by paying down debt. It's also aggressively investing in carbon capture and storage projects that could have long-term benefits for the company, both from an ESG (environmental, social, and governance) perspective and as a potential revenue stream in the form of carbon credits.
Oxy today trades at a dirt-cheap price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.5 and a price-to-FCF ratio of 13 -- meaning its earnings and FCF could fall and the stock would still be cheap. Now is a great time to scoop up shares of Berkshire's top energy company on sale.
Mastercard has a powerful moat
Credit card companies have proven to be phenomenal long-term investments. Mastercard and its closest peer, Visa, now have a combined market cap of nearly $1 trillion. And yet, they aren't necessarily overvalued.
Mastercard trades now at a forward P/E ratio of 33.3. That's higher than the S&P 500's trailing P/E ratio of 28.8, so even if Mastercard generates the earnings analysts expect over the next 12 months, it will still be more expensive than the S&P 500. With Mastercard, though, the value isn't just in the earnings, but the quality of the company and its growth trajectory.
Mastercard is an incredibly efficient business, with a 58.6% operating margin. It also has just $8.2 billion in total net long-term debt on its balance sheet, which is very small for a company of its size. Few companies in the S&P 500 can compete with Mastercard's profitability and financial health.
It also benefits from a huge network effect. Mastercard and Visa process the majority of credit card transactions in the U.S., and both are growing internationally. Fees are collected on both the number of transactions and the payment volume of total transactions. The more Mastercard debit and credit cards are in circulation, and the greater the partnerships with financial institutions like banks and credit unions, the more useful the network becomes to all participants, and the more incentive other customers and businesses have to join it.
Mastercard is expanding its value-added services business as consumers and merchants seek fraud prevention tools, better analytics, and cybersecurity solutions. This segment grew faster than Mastercard's core business last quarter.
Add it all up, and Mastercard stands out as a quality company that can continue delivering strong returns for investors.
Ulta is a catch-all way to play a recovery in cosmetics spending
Ulta is a new addition to Berkshire's portfolio. Although the position is valued at about a quarter-billion dollars -- much less than its other holdings -- Berkshire Hathaway now owns 1.5% of the retailer.
Ulta checks a lot of the boxes that Buffett and his team look for when searching for quality value stocks. The stock's valuation is significantly below historical median levels.
As you can see, Ulta's forward P/E ratio is above its current P/E -- meaning that analysts expect earnings to shrink in the next 12 months. There's no sugarcoating that Ulta's second-quarter 2024 earnings call was bleak, with management cutting the outlook for the second time this year. Competition and weak consumer spending were the headline concerns. But taking a step back, a slowdown in Ulta's growth is completely understandable.
The cosmetic industry boomed in recent years. And consumer trends toward more value-focused products -- like those sold by e.l.f. Beauty -- and away from premium-priced products like those sold by Estee Lauder or L'Oreal means lower margins and fewer reasons for customers to shop in its stores, try new products, or use Ulta's salon services.
That all adds up to a sluggish near-term outlook for the retailer. However, for investors with the patience to hold on as they wait for the industry to turn around, Ulta's dirt-cheap valuation and market position make it worth considering now.
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______________________________________________________________
#N/A | ATVI | 52,717,075 | 6.7% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | ALLY | 29,800,000 | 9.9% | #N/A | ||
Amazon.com, Inc. | AMZN | 10,666,000 | 0.1% | $105.45 | $1,124,729,700 | #N/A |
American Express Company | AXP | 151,610,700 | 20.4% | $161.34 | $24,460,870,338 | #N/A |
#N/A | AON | 4,396,000 | 2.1% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | AAPL | 915,560,382 | 5.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | BAC | 1,032,852,006 | 12.9% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | BK | 25,069,867 | 3.2% | #N/A | ||
BYD Co. Ltd | BYDDF | 119,730,142 | 10.9% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | CE | 9,710,183 | 8.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | CHTR | 3,828,941 | 2.3% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | CVX | 167,353,771 | 8.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | C | 55,244,797 | 2.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | KO | 400,000,000 | 9.2% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | DVA | 36,095,570 | 39.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | DEO | 227,750 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
Floor & Decor Holdings Inc | FND | 4,780,000 | 4.5% | $99.34 | $474,845,200 | #N/A |
#N/A | GM | 50,000,000 | 3.6% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | GL | 6,353,727 | 6.6% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | HPQ | 120,952,818 | 12.3% | #N/A | ||
Itochu Corporation | ITOCF | 98,380,800 | 6.2% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | JEF | 433,558 | 0.2% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | JNJ | 327,100 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | KHC | 325,634,818 | 26.5% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | KR | 50,000,000 | 7.0% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | LILA | 2,630,792 | 5.9% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | LILAK | 1,284,020 | 0.7% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | FWONK | 7,722,451 | 3.7% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | LSXMA | 20,207,680 | 20.6% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | LSXMK | 43,208,291 | 19.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | LPX | 7,044,909 | 9.8% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | MKL | 471,661 | 3.5% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | MMC | 404,911 | 0.1% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | MA | 3,986,648 | 0.4% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | MCK | 2,855,514 | 2.1% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | MDLZ | 578,000 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | MCO | 24,669,778 | 13.4% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | NU | 107,118,784 | 2.3% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | OXY | 211,707,119 | 23.6% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | PARA | 93,637,189 | 15.3% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | PG | 315,400 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | RH | 2,360,000 | 10.7% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | SNOW | 6,125,376 | 1.9% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | SPY | 39,400 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
StoneCo Ltd | STNE | 10,695,448 | 3.3% | $12.32 | $131,767,919 | #N/A |
#N/A | TSM | 8,292,724 | 0.2% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | TMUS | 5,242,000 | 0.4% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | UPS | 59,400 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | USB | 8,098,178 | 0.5% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | VOO | 43,000 | 0.0% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | VRSN | 12,815,613 | 12.3% | #N/A | ||
#N/A | V | 8,297,460 | 0.2% | #N/A | ||
TOTAL | #N/A |
Symbol | Holdings | Stake | Mkt. price | Value | Pct of portfolio | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Activision Blizzard, Inc. | ATVI | 74,187,400 | 9.5% | $80.49 | $5,971,343,826 | 1.7% |
Ally Financial Inc | ALLY | 8,969,420 | 2.9% | $32.58 | $292,223,704 | 0.1% |
Amazon.com, Inc. | AMZN | 10,666,000 | 0.1% | $140.80 | $1,501,772,800 | 0.4% |
American Express Company | AXP | 151,610,700 | 20.2% | $157.51 | $23,880,201,357 | 6.7% |
Aon PLC | AON | 4,396,000 | 2.1% | $287.53 | $1,263,981,880 | 0.4% |
Apple Inc | AAPL | 911,347,617 | 5.7% | $165.35 | $150,691,328,471 | 42.5% |
Bank of America Corp | BAC | 1,032,852,006 | 12.9% | $33.96 | $35,075,654,124 | 9.9% |
Bank of New York Mellon Corp | BK | 74,346,864 | 9.2% | $43.50 | $3,234,088,584 | 0.9% |
BYD Co. Ltd | BYDDF | 225,000,000 | 7.7% | $36.75 | $8,268,750,000 | 2.3% |
Celanese Corporation | CE | 7,880,998 | 7.3% | $110.85 | $873,608,628 | 0.2% |
Charter Communications Inc | CHTR | 3,828,941 | 2.4% | $462.98 | $1,772,723,104 | 0.5% |
Chevron Corporation | CVX | 159,178,117 | 8.1% | $153.64 | $24,456,125,896 | 6.9% |
Citigroup Inc | C | 55,244,797 | 2.9% | $51.66 | $2,853,946,213 | 0.8% |
Coca-Cola Co | KO | 400,000,000 | 9.2% | $63.38 | $25,352,000,000 | 7.2% |
Davita Inc | DVA | 36,095,570 | 39.5% | $85.68 | $3,092,668,438 | 0.9% |
Diageo plc | DEO | 227,750 | 0.0% | $188.37 | $42,901,268 | 0.0% |
Floor & Decor Holdings Inc | FND | 4,780,000 | 4.5% | $92.92 | $444,157,600 | 0.1% |
General Motors Company | GM | 62,045,847 | 4.3% | $36.06 | $2,237,373,243 | 0.6% |
Globe Life Inc | GL | 6,353,727 | 6.4% | $97.88 | $621,902,799 | 0.2% |
HP Inc | HPQ | 121,092,418 | 11.7% | $33.58 | $4,066,283,396 | 1.1% |
Itochu Corporation | ITOCF | 81,304,200 | 5.6% | $27.37 | $2,225,295,954 | 0.6% |
Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 327,100 | 0.0% | $171.11 | $55,970,081 | 0.0% |
Kraft Heinz Co | KHC | 325,634,818 | 26.6% | $37.57 | $12,234,100,112 | 3.5% |
Kroger Co | KR | 57,985,263 | 8.1% | $47.25 | $2,739,803,677 | 0.8% |
Liberty Latin America Ltd Class A | LILA | 2,630,792 | 5.6% | $7.24 | $19,046,934 | 0.0% |
Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C | LILAK | 1,284,020 | 0.7% | $7.16 | $9,193,583 | 0.0% |
Liberty Media Formula One Series C | FWONK | 7,722,451 | 3.8% | $62.89 | $485,664,943 | 0.1% |
Liberty Sirius XM Group Series A | LSXMA | 20,207,680 | 20.4% | $41.08 | $830,131,494 | 0.2% |
Liberty Sirius XM Group Series C | LSXMK | 43,208,291 | 19.6% | $40.96 | $1,769,811,599 | 0.5% |
Markel Corporation | MKL | 424,343 | 3.1% | $1,167.94 | $495,607,163 | 0.1% |
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. | MMC | 404,911 | 0.1% | $165.60 | $67,053,262 | 0.0% |
Mastercard Inc | MA | 3,986,648 | 0.4% | $357.51 | $1,425,266,526 | 0.4% |
McKesson Corporation | MCK | 2,921,975 | 2.0% | $346.69 | $1,013,019,513 | 0.3% |
MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC Common Stock | MDLZ | 578,000 | 0.0% | $63.77 | $36,859,060 | 0.0% |
Moody’s Corporation | MCO | 24,669,778 | 13.4% | $311.07 | $7,674,027,842 | 2.2% |
Nu Holdings Ltd | NU | 107,118,784 | 2.3% | $4.49 | $480,963,340 | 0.1% |
Occidental Petroleum Corporation | OXY | 181,684,791 | 19.5% | $59.01 | $10,721,219,517 | 3.0% |
Paramount Global Class B | PARA | 68,947,760 | 11.3% | $24.26 | $1,672,672,658 | 0.5% |
Procter & Gamble Co | PG | 315,400 | 0.0% | $144.72 | $45,644,688 | 0.0% |
RH | RH | 2,170,000 | 8.8% | $286.87 | $622,507,900 | 0.2% |
Royalty Pharma plc | RPRX | 1,496,372 | 0.2% | $42.45 | $63,520,991 | 0.0% |
Snowflake Inc | SNOW | 6,125,376 | 1.9% | $165.53 | $1,013,933,489 | 0.3% |
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | SPY | 39,400 | 0.0% | $413.47 | $16,290,718 | 0.0% |
StoneCo Ltd | STNE | 10,695,448 | 3.3% | $11.07 | $118,398,609 | 0.0% |
Store Capital Corp (acquired) | STOR | 14,754,811 | 5.3% | $27.90 | $411,659,227 | 0.1% |
T-Mobile Us Inc | TMUS | 5,242,000 | 0.4% | $144.56 | $757,783,520 | 0.2% |
United Parcel Service, Inc. | UPS | 59,400 | 0.0% | $196.76 | $11,687,544 | 0.0% |
US Bancorp | USB | 144,046,330 | 9.7% | $47.39 | $6,826,355,579 | 1.9% |
Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF | VOO | 43,000 | 0.0% | $379.98 | $16,339,140 | 0.0% |
Verisign, Inc. | VRSN | 12,815,613 | 11.9% | $198.70 | $2,546,462,303 | 0.7% |
Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ | 1,380,111 | 0.0% | $44.95 | $62,035,989 | 0.0% |
Visa Inc | V | 8,297,460 | 0.4% | $215.87 | $1,791,172,690 | 0.5% |
TOTAL | $354,252,534,978 | 100.0% | ||||
Berkshire Cash as of 31 Mar 22: $106.3 billion |
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