Warren Buffett is arguably the world’s most famous investor, and his investment moves are closely followed. Each quarter, the company he runs, Berkshire Hathaway, discloses its current holdings to shareholders.
Here are some of the changes Buffett and his two investment officers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, made during the second quarter, according to the latest 13F regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The holdings are reported as of June 30, 2022. At that time, the S&P 500 had declined more than 20 percent for the year.
Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio holdings: Where Buffett & Co. are buying/adding
—Ally Financial (ALLY)
Berkshire more than tripled its stake in Ally Financial, raising its position from about 9 million shares at the end of the first quarter to exactly 30 million shares at the end of the second quarter. The stake was valued at just over $1 billion as of June 30.
—Occidental Petroleum (OXY)
Berkshire significantly boosted its stake in energy company Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter. Berkshire held 136.4 million shares at the end of March and now holds about 158.5 million shares, worth about $9.3 billion at the end of the quarter. Berkshire also owns warrants that could increase its position even more.
—Activision Blizzard (ATVI)
Berkshire also increased its stake in video-game maker Activision Blizzard, which has agreed to be acquired by Microsoft for $95 per share in cash. Berkshire now holds 68.4 million shares, up from 64.3 million at the end of the first quarter. Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual meeting in April that he increased the position as an arbitrage bet on the deal’s closing. Activision recently traded for around $81 per share, and the companies expect the deal to close by mid-2023.
—Apple (AAPL)
Berkshire’s largest stockholding also got a boost during the quarter, with the company slightly increasing its stake in Apple by less than 1 percent. The position in the iPhone maker was worth nearly $122 billion at quarter end, with Berkshire adding nearly 4 million shares. Buffett touted Apple’s share repurchases as an intelligent use of cash during Berkshire’s shareholder meeting in April.
—Chevron (CVX)
Berkshire gave a boost to its Chevron holdings during the quarter, adding more than 2 million shares to its already-large holding, increasing its stake to 161.4 million shares at the end of June. The company is one of Berkshire’s five largest holdings and comes with a dividend yield above 3 percent. Chevron has benefited from higher energy prices and reported $11.4 billion in earnings during the second quarter of 2022, up from $3.1 billion in the same quarter last year.
—Markel (MKL)
Berkshire boosted its stake in insurance rival Markel by about 11 percent from the first quarter, raising its total position to nearly 468,000 shares. That stake was valued at nearly $605 million at the end of the second quarter. Markel has sometimes been referred to as a mini-Berkshire because of its insurance operations and investment prowess.
—Paramount Global (PARA)
Berkshire added to its recently established position in Paramount Global, which operates film and television studios, cable networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon, and the CBS Network. Berkshire held 78.4 million shares at the end of June, up from 68.9 million shares in March.
—Celanese Corp. (CE)
Berkshire also added to its recently disclosed position in Celanese, a materials provider to the chemicals, paints, and coatings industries. Berkshire held about 7.9 million shares at the end of the first quarter, and boosted that to nearly 9.2 million shares in the latest quarter.
—McKesson Corp. (MCK)
Texas-based McKesson, which is a distributor of pharmaceutical and medical supplies, gained an increased investment in the quarter. Berkshire pushed its stake from more than 2.9 million shares to nearly 3.2 million shares.
Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio holdings: Where Buffett & Co. are selling
—Verizon Communications (VZ)
Berkshire exited its position in Verizon during the quarter, selling about 1.4 million shares, after dropping more than 99 percent of its shares in the first quarter..
—Royalty Pharma (RPRX)
Berkshire also completely eliminated its stake in Royalty Pharma during the quarter. Berkshire held about 1.5 million shares, worth $58.3 million at the end of March, according to the filing.
—General Motors (GM)
General Motors also saw its shares slashed by Berkshire, reducing holdings by about 15 percent quarter over quarter. The stake fell from more than 62 million shares in the first quarter to about 52.9 million at the end of June.
—Kroger (KR)
Berkshire also took a knife to its stake in the large grocer Kroger, paring its stake by 9.6 percent. Berkshire trimmed more than 5.5 million shares from its position during the second quarter, leaving a stake that was valued at about $2.5 billion.
—STORE Capital (STOR)
Berkshire continued to liquidate its position in STORE Capital, dropping that position by 53 percent in the second quarter. The position was first purchased during the second quarter of 2017 and was worth more than $430 million at the end of March. The real estate investment trust, or REIT, currently has a dividend yield above 5 percent and a market cap of $8.3 billion.
—U.S. Bancorp (USB)
Berkshire also sold part of its stake in U.S. Bancorp, cutting that position from 126.4 million shares to 119.8 million shares at the end of the second quarter.
Top stock holdings in Buffett’s portfolio
Berkshire takes a concentrated approach with its investments, typically holding the majority of its portfolio in just a few companies. Its top holdings at the end of the second quarter accounted for 69 percent of the portfolio’s value, and included these top five positions:
Apple (AAPL) – $125.1 billion
Bank of America (BAC) – $32.2 billion
Coca-Cola – $25.2 billion
Chevron (CVX) – $23.7 billion
American Express (AXP) – $21.0 billion
Buffett spent about $1 billion repurchasing Berkshire stock in the second quarter of 2022. This is an indication that he believes the shares are undervalued and continuing shareholders will benefit from the buybacks.
Bottom line
Buffett and Berkshire have an excellent track record in selecting investments, but be sure to research any investments thoroughly before investing yourself. Even stocks owned by legendary investors decline and you’ll need to understand the businesses you’re invested in well enough to make a buy, hold or sell decision on your own.
