Buffett's Berkshire Discloses $50.8 Million Stake In Dollar General [color=red][color=red][/color][/color] Dollar General (NYSE:DG)
Today : Tuesday 16 August 2011
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) revealed an investment in discount retail chain Dollar General Corp. (DG) Monday, a purchase likely by new investment manager Todd Combs.
The company also showed increased stakes in MasterCard Inc. (MA) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) in the second quarter, and reduced its holding of Kraft Inc. (KFT).
Berkshire disclosed the holdings in a regulatory filing Monday that showed the company's U.S. stock positions as of June 30.
However, Berkshire also said it had omitted some information on its holdings in the filing, an action some investment managers are permitted to take by the Securities and Exchange Commission when they're building or eliminating a position. Such "confidential treatment" prevents others from piggy-backing on their investment ideas.
The addition of the $50.8 million Dollar General stake to the portfolio is probably the work of Todd Combs, the former hedge-fund manager who was tapped by Buffett to manage a portfolio of about $2 billion to $3 billion at Berkshire. Combs was selected as the company prepares for the day the 80-year-old Buffett will no longer run Berkshire.
Buffett's company, like other firms that control an investment portfolio of more than $100 million, is required to report its U.S. stock holdings 45 days after the end of a given quarter.
News about Berkshire's stock picks can move the shares of the newly disclosed holdings as money managers look to mimic the investment success of the "Oracle of Omaha." Dollar General stock rose 3.8% to $33.41 in late trading after the Berkshire stake was disclosed.
However, Buffett had long warned that not all the moves in the portfolio are his.
