pwshub.com

Here Are All 45 Stocks Warren Buffett Holds for Berkshire Hathaway's $314 Billion Portfolio

Although most investors were laser-focused on the release of the July inflation report last week, they may have missed what could be described as the most insightful data dump of the third quarter.

On Aug. 14, institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management were required to file Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 13F is the filing that alerts investors to the stocks, exchange-traded funds, and (occasionally) options that Wall Street's smartest money managers bought and sold in the latest quarter (in this instance, the June-ended quarter).

A pensive Warren Buffett surrounded by people at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool.

No asset manager garners more attention on Wall Street than Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) billionaire CEO Warren Buffett. That's because Buffett has overseen an increase in his company's Class A shares (BRK.A) of more than 5,387,000% since becoming CEO in 1965. When you run circles around Wall Street's major stock indexes, investors of all walks will want to ride your coattails.

According to Berkshire's newest 13F, the appropriately named "Oracle of Omaha" and his investment lieutenants, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, are overseeing a 45-stock portfolio spread across $314 billion of invested assets. Make note that this figure excludes the two index funds Berkshire currently holds small stakes in -- the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust -- because index funds are comprised of baskets of securities and aren't themselves stocks.

Here's a thorough breakdown of Warren Buffett's portfolio at Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett's portfolio is highly concentrated in eight core investments

At quick glance, you'd assume Buffett, Combs, and Weschler were well diversified, given that their company has $314 billion spread out across 45 stocks -- but you'd be sorely mistaken. In reality, more than 79% of Berkshire's invested assets can be traced back to eight core holdings.

  1. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): $90,420,000,000 in market value (as of Aug. 16)

  2. American Express: $38,161,929,297

  3. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC): $37,075,191,558

  4. Coca-Cola: $27,672,000,000

  5. Chevron (NYSE: CVX): $17,467,773,342

  6. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY): $14,706,768,598

  7. Moody's: $11,513,878,788

  8. Kraft Heinz: $11,273,477,399

Despite Berkshire's team being big net-sellers of equities over the last seven quarters, these eight investments make crystal clear that Buffett prefers to have an outsized percentage of his company's capital put to work in his best ideas.

Perhaps the biggest surprise here is energy stocks accounting for a double-digit percentage of invested assets. Buffett has overseen the purchase of more than 255.2 million shares of Occidental Petroleum since the start of 2022 and also holds around 118.6 million shares of Chevron.

Historically, energy stocks haven't played a key role in Buffett's portfolio. But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple years of capital underinvestment by global energy majors (including Chevron) has led to tight global oil supply. When the supply of an in-demand commodity is constrained, this often means its spot price receives a boost. Occidental Petroleum, in particular, generates the bulk of its revenue from its drilling segment, and would be a prime beneficiary of a sustainably higher spot price for crude oil.

It is worth noting that Buffett and his crew have sold well over 500 million shares of their top holding, Apple, since Oct. 1, 2023, and they recently dumped north of $3.8 billion worth of Bank of America stock over 12 consecutive trading sessions (July 17 – Aug. 1).

Though it's highly unlikely Buffett has lost faith in the management teams of either company, Berkshire is sitting on mammoth unrealized gains in Apple and Bank of America. With the stock market at historically pricey levels, and Buffett opining during his company's annual shareholder meeting in May that he believes corporate tax rates will climb, locking in some gains makes perfect sense.

A dollar sign popping up from a financial newspaper featuring stock quotes and charts.

Image source: Getty Images.

The Oracle of Omaha has 20 additional billion-dollar wagers

Even though the lion's share of Berkshire Hathaway's invested assets can be traced back to the aforementioned eight brand-name companies, it doesn't mean there aren't sizable wagers elsewhere. As of the closing bell on Aug. 16, there were 20 holdings that ranged in value between $1.2 billion and $7.4 billion.

  1. Chubb (NYSE: CB): $7,391,306,883

  2. Mitsubishi (OTC: MSBHF)(OTC: MTSU.Y): $7,357,559,195

  3. Itochu (OTC: ITOCY)(OTC: ITOCF): $5,744,464,819

  4. DaVita: $5,425,164,171

  5. Mitsui (OTC: MITSY)(OTC: MITSF): $5,390,943,959

  6. Citigroup: $3,392,030,536

  7. Kroger: $2,659,500,000

  8. Marubeni (OTC: MARUY): $2,416,778,056

  9. Sumitomo (OTC: SSUM.Y)(OTC: SSUM.F): $2,388,438,078

  10. VeriSign: $2,305,016,154

  11. Visa: $2,218,574,855

  12. Mastercard: $1,869,259,514

  13. Amazon: $1,770,600,000

  14. BYD: $1,550,124,061

  15. Liberty Sirius XM Group Series C (NASDAQ: LSXMK): $1,540,063,734

  16. Nu Holdings: $1,509,303,667

  17. Capital One Financial: $1,370,346,897

  18. Aon: $1,361,405,000

  19. Charter Communications: $1,352,803,145

  20. Ally Financial: $1,218,870,000

One of the interesting quirks about Buffett's "other" billion-dollar investments is that this section contains five of the eight companies he described as "indefinite" holdings in his most recent annual letter to shareholders.

Aside from longtime holdings Coca-Cola and American Express, as well as Occidental Petroleum, Buffett listed the five Japanese trading houses (Mitsubishi, Itochu, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sumitomo) as forever-type holdings for his company. The only reason Buffett hasn't purchased an even larger stake in these businesses is because he has to keep Berkshire Hathaway's stake in all five companies below 10%.

The "why?" behind Mitsubishi, Itochu, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sumitomo has everything to do with these companies being cyclical and cheap. The Oracle of Omaha is a big fan of diversified companies able to take advantage of long-winded periods of economic expansion. When those businesses have single-digit price-to-earnings ratios, hearty capital-return programs, and CEOs with reasonably low compensation packages, Buffett tends to be a happy camper.

There's also a sizable presence of financial stocks among Buffett's billion-dollar ventures. It's here we find insurer Chubb, which was the confidential stock Berkshire's brightest minds began building a position in last summer. Insurers typically possess strong premium pricing power, and they've notably benefited from higher net interest income on their float (i.e., premium collected that hasn't been paid out via claims) over the last two years.

Warren Buffett's smaller holdings

To round things out, the roughly $314 billion portfolio overseen by Buffett, Combs, and Weschler also has 17 "smaller" holdings, ranging in market value from a little over $9 million to as much as $918 million.

  1. T-Mobile: $918,328,320

  2. Liberty Sirius XM Group Series A (NASDAQ: LSXMA): $774,712,462

  3. Liberty Formula One Series C: $594,705,952

  4. Louisiana-Pacific: $561,167,725

  5. Liberty Live Series C: $430,810,903

  6. Floor & Décor: $418,352,588

  7. Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI): $398,634,639

  8. Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA): $260,328,686

  9. HEICO Class A: $195,471,660

  10. Liberty Live Series A: $192,282,833

  11. NVR: $96,329,150

  12. Diageo: $29,293,205

  13. Liberty Latin America Series A: $25,650,222

  14. Jefferies Financial Group: $24,946,927

  15. Lennar Class B: $24,352,017

  16. Liberty Latin America Series C: $12,570,556

  17. Atlanta Braves Holdings Series C: $9,370,726

If there's a prevailing theme to these sub-$1 billion wagers, it's that these companies were likely purchased, and/or are actively overseen, by Combs and Weschler.

For instance, Wall Street has been crowing about Berkshire's purchase of more than 690,000 shares of Ulta Beauty following the release of Berkshire's second-quarter 13F. While Ulta's chain of cosmetics stores have been a popular launch point for a number of beauty products, cosmetics are well outside the realm of where Buffett focuses his research. This makes it highly likely that Combs and/or Weschler is behind this trade.

You can also see a potential arbitrage opportunity at play among these smaller holdings. In particular, Berkshire's stake in Sirius XM Holdings has more than tripled over the last three months. By the end of September, Sirius XM is expected to complete its merger with Liberty Media's Sirius XM tracking stock, Liberty Sirius XM Group, to create a single class of shares. Sirius XM will also conduct a 1-for-10 reverse split upon consummation of the merger.

Differences in price between Sirius XM and Liberty Sirius XM Group may be opening the door for Buffett and his investing lieutenants to take advantage.

Should you invest $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway right now?

Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $796,586!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of August 12, 2024

Bank of America is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Ally is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Sean Williams has positions in Amazon, Bank of America, Mastercard, Sirius XM, and Visa. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, BYD Company, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Jefferies Financial Group, Lennar, Mastercard, Moody's, NVR, Ulta Beauty, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, VeriSign, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Diageo Plc, Heico, Kraft Heinz, Kroger, Nu Holdings, Occidental Petroleum, and T-Mobile US and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $370 calls on Mastercard and short January 2025 $380 calls on Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Here Are All 45 Stocks Warren Buffett Holds for Berkshire Hathaway's $314 Billion Portfolio was originally published by The Motley Fool

Source: fool.com

Related stories
1 week ago - Patient investors may want to take a closer look at these five out-of-favor turnaround plays.
1 week ago - Now that the Fed has started cutting rates, the economy has taken to the fore for investors.
1 month ago - Investors are holding back ahead of the AI bellwether's earnings report, seen as crucial to keeping confidence in the broader market aloft.
1 month ago - Investors are holding back ahead of the AI bellwether's earnings report, seen as crucial to keeping confidence in the broader market aloft.
2 weeks ago - This exchange-traded fund only holds the best performing stocks from the S&P 500, and ignores the rest.
Other stories
46 minutes ago - Google LLC will enable brands to display ads in AI Overviews, the natural language explainers that its search engine generates in response to some queries. The change is part of a broader product update that the Alphabet Inc. detailed...
47 minutes ago - Artificial intelligence is a game-changing technology in the enterprise world, increasingly adopted for its potential to enhance human capabilities. AI trends are driving industrial transformation across sectors. Large language models,...
47 minutes ago - U.S. Federal Reserve losses crossed the $200 billion point this week, according to data released on Thursday by the central bank. The Fed reported that as of Wednesday, the level of its so-called earnings remittance to the Treasury...
1 hour ago - At last week’s Climate Week and the Global Citizen Festival in New York, both committed to making the world a better and more livable place for future generations, technology was viewed by many as the driving force to shift to a cleaner,...
1 hour ago - Employees can spend up to one-third of their time looking up information in the company, and until now enterprise search has not been up to snuff. That looks to change with Glean Technologies Inc.’s artificial intelligence-based...