Buffett reduces his stake in Apple

Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett’s company sold 10 million shares of Apple in the last three months of 2023. Thus, the position according to which the so-called Oracle of Omaha calls one of the “four giants” of his groupbecause they believemost of the portfolio value.

Sale, which is Berkshire’s approximately 1.1% stake in the technology companyThis was notable because Buffett said in 2021 that his previous decision to reduce his stake in Apple was “probably a mistake.”

Apple has become Berkshire’s key holding because it It represents approximately one-fifth of the portfolio’s market value.

Buffett’s growing conglomerate Owner of the BNSF railroad and insurance company Geico, which first invested in the iPhone maker in 2016. under the direction of one of two investment deputies: Todd Combs and Ted Weschler.

Subsequently Buffett increased his investment when he sympathized with the technology company and spent tens of billions of dollars buying its shares.. In 2022, it reported that the value of this engagement was just over $31 billion.

The bet paid off handsomely. Even after selling shares. Berkshire’s 5.9% position in Apple was worth $174 billion at year’s end.according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. That dwarfs its second-largest public investment: Bank of America.

Berkshire’s presentation showed that it also reduced its stake in printer and PC maker HP by 78%.selling nearly 80 million shares in the fourth quarter. And it sold 32% of its stake in media company Paramount Global.after selling 30.4 million shares.

Paramount’s 2022 bid was closely watched by the media industry and was seen as a endorsement of the company’s investment in its streaming platform. streaming Paramount+as well as its ability to compete with competitors with deeper pockets such as Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Who decides

However, since its inception, it has not been clear whether Buffett himself made the choice in favor of the company or whether the decision was made by Combs or Weschler.

Paramount majority shareholder Shari Redstone has held initial talks with potential suitors for the company as it works to cut losses after a costly war in the US. streaming which put pressure on its share price.

Berkshire also pulled out of investments in payments business StoneCo, insurers Globe Life and Markel Corporation, and homebuilder DR Horton.

The sale of DR Horton marked a sudden shift on the part of an investor typically seen as a long-term holder. Berkshire said it invested in America’s largest homebuilder just six months ago.

Selling shares means that By the end of 2023, the number of Berkshire securities in its multibillion-dollar stock portfolio had been reduced to 41. This is down from 49 12 months ago. Magnate left General Motors, UPS and Procter & Gamble at the beginning of the year.

Berkshire did not make any new investments in the fourth quarter of 2023, although increased its stakes in satellite radio operator SiriusXM and oil companies Chevron and Occidental Petroleum.

Second quarter in a row Berkshire did not include at least one investment in its quarterly report, noting that it had asked the SEC for confidential treatment. A company typically makes this request when it is in the middle of a major purchase.

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