Has Warren Buffet ever sold a stock?
Warren Buffett finally sold some Apple stock
On the other end of the spectrum, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway confirmed this week it was paring back its holdings in Paramount Global. The Oracle of Omaha's disclosure showed the sale of 30.4 million shares, approximately a third of its previous holding, but doubled down on oil company Chevron.
World's third richest person Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway has sold its last Walmart shares, ending a relationship of over 20 years. The world's largest retailer was once among Berkshire's five biggest equity holdings as recently as 2014, valued at over $5 billion.
At its core, Warren Buffett's investing strategy is not all that complicated: Buy businesses, not stocks. In other words, think like a business owner, not someone who owns a piece of paper (or these days, a digital trade confirmation).
Anyone can invest in Berkshire Hathaway if they have enough money to buy at least one Class B share (about $360 in late 2023). For comparison, hedge funds are open only to accredited investors, meaning those with a high income or net worth and who can meet the fund's minimum investment, which can be $1 million or more.
Buffett, a long-time customer and owner of Dairy Queen through Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition in 1998, wanted to experience the restaurant's operations firsthand. One thing that caught Gates and Buffett's attention was how Dairy Queen serves its popular menu item the Blizzard.
Berkshire's most recent 13-F filing disclosing its holdings to the Securities and Exchange Commission showed it sold 10 million shares of Apple, or 1% of its stake, in the final three months of 2023. The conglomerate bought energy stocks including Chevron and Occidental Petroleum, the filing showed.
Berkshire Hathaway owns a lot of stocks that span numerous industries. But there's one dominant retailer that isn't on the list. It might come as a surprise that legendary investor Warren Buffett doesn't own Costco Wholesale (COST -1.04%) shares.
The top three individual shareholders are Warren Buffett, Susan Buffett, and Ronald Olson. The company's top three institutional shareholders are Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street.
Apple is Berkshire's largest public stock holding by far. Berkshire's $155 billion Apple stake is roughly four times larger than its second-largest holding. Buffett first bought Apple shares in the first quarter of 2016, and Apple's stock price is up more than 500% since the beginning of 2016.
What stock does Bill Gates own?
Ticker | Company | % Portfolio |
---|---|---|
BRK.B | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | 16.80% |
CNI | Canadian National Railway Co. | 16.29% |
WM | Waste Management Inc. | 14.92% |
CAT | Caterpillar Inc. | 5.14% |
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold off about 10 million shares or almost $2 billion of Apple stock in the final quarter of 2023, according to the firm's 13-F filing. Berkshire also sold off the majority of its position in HP and about half of its shares of Paramount Global.
There's a Difference Between Buying Real Estate and Investing in Real Estate. Buffett isn't opposed to investing in real estate and has invested in several real estate investment trusts (REITs) over the years. However, he knows it doesn't make sense for him to get into the business of being a landlord.
It's all about the stock
So there's no reason to expect a dividend to be paid anytime soon, given the level of control and ownership Buffett has at the company. Thus, if you are an investor trying to live off the income you can generate from your portfolio, then Berkshire Hathaway would be a bad option for you.
Berkshire Hathaway is an excellent business with steady cash flows and is coming off another solid year of earnings. Its growing cash pile gives Buffett and his team a lot of dry powder to put to work when the time is right. BRK. B cash and short-term investments (quarterly), data by YCharts.
With fractional shares, you can purchase stock from a specific dollar amount rather than the full cost of a share. For example, if Berkshire Hathaway stock costs $400 per share but you have $100 to invest, you could buy one-fourth of a share.
Geicois owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which is led by well-known investor Warren Buffet. Warren Buffett has owned shares of Geico stock since 1951, and Geico became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in 1996.
Warren Buffett was invited to buy a stake in Dunkin' Donuts — but declined to get caught up in a takeover fight. Warren Buffett declined to buy a stake in Dunkin' Donuts in 1989. The donut-shop chain approached the investor to help it escape a hostile takeover.
Buffett bought into the company in 2020 – Berkshire bought 146.7 million shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), valued at about $8.6 billion at the end of 2020. However, they started shedding the shares in early 2022 and finally exited in Q2 2022.
The acquisition of additional shares in Liberty SiriusXM Group is a strategic move that further solidifies Buffett's confidence in the company. The timing of the trade suggests that Buffett sees potential value in LSXMK, aligning with his philosophy of investing in companies with favorable long-term prospects.
Why did Buffett sell Apple?
Beneficial capital allocation
This massive position provides a financial windfall. Apple pays a dividend that yields a measly 0.52%. But based on the current quarterly payout of $0.24, Buffett's firm receives an annualized $879 million from its equity position in the tech giant.
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led by Warren Buffett, reduced its holdings in Apple by approximately 1% during the final quarter of 2023, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.
According to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire Hathaway had previously owned as many as 3.7 million shares of Home Depot. Approximately a quarter of this stake was sold in mid-2009, with the remainder jettisoned in the third quarter of 2010.
It's worth noting that Buffett may have jettisoned Costco because he wanted to free up cash to buy other assets with greater upside. Indeed, Berkshire purchased nearly $18 billion worth of stocks on a net basis in the same period it sold Costco, filings show.
In retrospect, Berkshire Hathaway's 2022 purchase of Occidental Petroleum was a brilliant decision.
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