Berkshire Hathaway’s latest 13F filing, the second one released after Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO, shows a clear shift in the company’s equity positioning in the second quarter.
According to a filing disclosed on Aug. 14 U.S. Eastern Time, Berkshire’s 13F equity portfolio was worth about $299.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, up 12.09% from roughly $263.1 billion at the end of the first quarter.
In total, Berkshire opened one new position, added to seven holdings, reduced six holdings and exited one stock during the quarter.
Portfolio changes point to new emphasis
The filing indicates that under Greg Abel, Berkshire continued to add exposure to Alphabet, housing-related companies and airline stocks, while trimming positions tied to traditional finance and some consumer names.
When Alphabet’s two share classes are combined, Berkshire’s top 10 holdings are Apple, American Express, Alphabet, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Chubb, Moody’s and Kraft Heinz.
Apple remained Berkshire’s largest holding, with a market value of about $65.95 billion, or roughly 22% of the 13F equity portfolio. American Express ranked second at about $51.282 billion, accounting for 17.14%. On a combined basis, Alphabet ranked third, followed by Coca-Cola and Bank of America.
Alphabet moved up to the No. 3 spot
Berkshire made another large addition to Alphabet in the second quarter.
The company added about 24.54 million shares of GOOGL, an increase of 45.24%, bringing its quarter-end holding to about 78.79 million shares valued at roughly $28.158 billion. Berkshire also added about 23.60 million shares of GOOG, a 658.35% increase, lifting that position to about 27.19 million shares worth about $9.606 billion.
Combined, the two Alphabet positions were worth about $37.764 billion at the end of the quarter, equal to roughly 12.62% of Berkshire’s 13F equity portfolio. That pushed Alphabet past Coca-Cola and made it Berkshire’s third-largest holding after Apple and American Express.
Bank of America was the biggest trim
Among Berkshire’s top 10 positions, Bank of America was the only holding that was reduced in the second quarter. Berkshire cut about 30.20 million shares during the quarter. Based on quarter-end prices, the reduction was about 30.23 million shares, representing a 5.89% decrease and a stake worth about $1.72 billion. It was Berkshire’s largest reduction in the quarter.
Even after the cut, Berkshire still held 483 million shares of Bank of America at quarter-end. The position was worth about $27.544 billion and accounted for 9.2% of the 13F equity portfolio, keeping it in the No. 5 spot. Bank of America remains a major investment for Berkshire, but it has now been reduced for two consecutive quarters.
The filing also shows that Berkshire’s other top-10 holdings were unchanged during the quarter.
Delta, Lennar, Macy’s and NYT also saw additions
Outside the biggest positions, Berkshire increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by about 17.51 million shares, a rise of about 44%, taking its holding to 57.32 million shares valued at about $5.369 billion.
In homebuilding, Berkshire added about 3.01 million Class A shares of Lennar, an increase of nearly 30%, and also bought about 60,000 Class B shares.
The firm also added about 4.31 million shares of Macy’s, a 141.82% increase, and made a smaller addition of about 550,000 shares in The New York Times.
Small new position in D.R. Horton, full exit from Constellation Brands
Berkshire’s only new position in the second quarter was D.R. Horton. The company bought a relatively small 3,564 shares worth about $580,000.
On the selling side, Berkshire also reduced its stakes in Ally Financial, Capital One, DaVita, Kroger and Nucor, in addition to Bank of America.
Constellation Brands, an alcoholic beverage producer, had already been sharply reduced in the first quarter and was fully sold in the second quarter.