Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2014; the holdings, share counts and portfolio percentages come from Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing for the fourth quarter of 2013, and the company news cited is from that month. Berkshire’s portfolio has changed completely since.
Last week, leading US hedge fund managers reported their activity through the Q4 13F filings they submit to the SEC. So did Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.
The figures below come from iBillionaire.
New acquisitions
Last quarter, Warren Buffett opened new positions in Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ: LBTYA).
The billionaire is clearly enthusiastic about Goldman Sachs’ prospects: he holds 12.6 million shares (2.14% of his portfolio). The investment banking leader recently reported record revenue of $34.21 billion and earnings of $8.04 billion.
With the purchase of 2.94 million shares, Liberty Global has also joined Buffett’s portfolio. The company has just announced a $1 billion share buyback programme after reporting solid results, including 4% revenue growth over the past year.
It is also worth noting that Buffett now holds 1.72 million shares of Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company). Jeff Bezos, of Amazon, bought the company’s flagship newspaper (hence the name change) in August 2013.
Increased positions
Buffett added to a total of seven positions last quarter, raising his stakes in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), DaVita HealthCare Partners (NYSE: DVA), USG (NYSE: USG) and General Electric (NYSE: GE).
Wells Fargo now makes up 20.07% of Buffett’s portfolio. The billionaire added 326,000 shares last quarter. Buffett’s strategy is a bet on Wells Fargo’s long-term growth, as the bank is expanding its foreign lending business and capitalising on the economic recovery at home.
Buffett also bought 1.04 million shares of Exxon Mobil, the energy giant that now makes up 3.97% of his portfolio. It continues to deliver large returns to shareholders, handing out $26 billion in buybacks and dividends despite lower revenue in 2013.
The billionaire also raised his bet on Wal-Mart stores, buying another 236,000 shares. With that purchase, WMT accounts for 3.71% of Buffett’s portfolio. The retailer is due to report earnings this Thursday.
The other companies in which Warren Buffett increased his positions in Q4 2013 are U.S. Bancorp, which now makes up 3.06% of his portfolio, DaVita HealthCare Partners (2.2%), USG (0.94%) and GE (0.28%).
U.S. Bancorp is Buffett’s second-largest financial pick, for some good reasons: little debt, strong loan growth and a total of $4 billion (71% of earnings) paid out as dividends. DaVita, of which the billionaire bought another five million shares, has risen 4.73% in 2014 alone.
Reduced positions
Buffett cut his positions in three companies: Moody’s Corp (NYSE: MCO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA).
Buffett sold 252,400 Moody’s shares, and the company now makes up 1.85% of his portfolio. The credit rating agency has had a good start to the year, up 1.35% year to date and 5.97% over the last three months.
Buffett also let go of 2.5 million ConocoPhillips shares; the oil giant now represents 0.75% of his holdings.
He also sold 1.08 million Starz shares in Q4. The company now makes up 0.13% of the portfolio and will report its financial results on 21 February.
Sold out completely
During the fourth quarter of last year, Buffett liquidated his position in DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH), offloading all 454,000 shares (previously 0.03% of his portfolio). He also got rid of an even smaller stake in GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), selling all 346,000 shares (0.02% of his portfolio).
Read: The secret of Warren Buffett lies in what he never did and what he always was
Featured image: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
