There's arguably not a billionaire money manager that garners more attention on Wall Street than Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) chief, Warren Buffett. The accurately dubbed "Oracle of Omaha" has led his company's Class A shares (BRK.A) to a mouthwatering aggregate return of more than 5,600,000% since he became CEO almost six decades ago.
Riding Buffett's coattails has been a surefire long-term investment strategy. Mirroring his trades is made simple thanks to required Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
No later than 45 calendar days following the end to a quarter, institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management are required to file Form 13F with the SEC. This filing provides a concise snapshot of which stocks Wall Street's best money managers are buying and selling -- and there's no 13F more anticipated each quarter than Berkshire Hathaway.
Over the last two years, Buffett and his team have been decisive net sellers of stocks. Based on the seven quarters of cash flow statements from Berkshire Hathaway (from Oct. 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024), Buffett and his top investing aides, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, have sold close to $132 billion more in stocks than they've purchased.
While no Warren Buffett stock has been given the heave-ho quite like Berkshire's No. 1 holding, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the Oracle of Omaha is finding value in Wall Street's most prominent reverse stock split stock of 2024.
Amid Warren Buffett's selling spree, top holding Apple has been meaningfully reduced. In a three-quarter period from Oct. 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, Berkshire's stake in Apple declined by more than 515 million shares, or 56%, to precisely 400 million shares.
Benign profit-taking may very well be the catalyst that enticed Buffett to ring the register. During Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in early May, he opined that the corporate tax rate would likely climb in the future. With his company sitting on a mammoth unrealized gain in Apple, he suggested that locking in some gains now at a lower tax rate would, eventually, be viewed favorably by Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders.
To add to this point, Berkshire's chief has continued to praise Apple's business, even as he sizably pared down his company's No. 1 position. He appreciates Apple's strong branding and the loyalty of its customer base.