What stocks has Warren Buffett bought and sold lately? Each quarter, all fund managers with at least $100 million in assets must publicly disclose their stock holdings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission via form 13F, giving investors a rare peek behind the curtain of some of the world’s largest and most successful hedge funds.
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One of the most anticipated quarterly filings comes from Buffett and his $686 billion company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (ticker: BRK.A, BRK.B). Here’s a look at 10 of the biggest changes the Oracle of Omaha made to Berkshire’s portfolio in the fourth quarter:
— Sold: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM)
— Sold: U.S. Bancorp (USB)
— Sold: Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK)
— Sold: Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI)
— Sold: Chevron Corp. (CVX)
— Sold: McKesson Corp. (MCK)
— Bought: Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (LPX)
— Bought: Apple Inc. (AAPL)
— Bought: Paramount Global (PARA)
— Sold: Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY)
Sold: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM)
Perhaps the biggest surprise of Berkshire’s 13F filing was semiconductor foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. In the third quarter, Buffett surprised Wall Street with a massive new $4.1 billion stake in TSM, making the stock one of Berkshire’s 10 largest holdings. However, he reversed course just one quarter later, selling more than 51.7 million shares of TSM stock and reducing his stake in the company by about 86%. Something must have changed Buffett’s mind about the stock, suggesting he may also soon sell Berkshire’s remaining 8.2 million shares of TSM, worth about $617.7 million.
Sold: U.S. Bancorp (USB)
Buffett has a long history of big bets on bank stocks. In the first quarter of 2022, Berkshire sold off its last remaining shares of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) after more than 20 years of holding the stock, leaving U.S. Bancorp as Berkshire’s longest-running bank stock holding. Buffett first invested in U.S. Bancorp back in 2006, but he trimmed his stake by 31% in the third quarter and another 91% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire now holds just 6.6 million shares of USB stock worth $290.9 million, and Buffett may completely exit the position in the first quarter.
Sold: Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK)
Bank of New York Mellon is a trust bank, which means it has a unique business model that includes managing cash for large investment funds, providing day-to-day funding for large corporations and serving as a fixed-income clearing firm. The bank generates much of its income from transaction fees. Buffett first invested in BK stock back in 2010, but he reduced his stake by another 59% in the fourth quarter after selling 14% of his shares in the third quarter. Berkshire now holds about 25 million shares of BK stock worth roughly $1.1 billion.
Sold: Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI)
In January 2022, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced a $68.7 billion buyout deal for video game publisher Activision Blizzard at a price of $95 per share. At the time, Berkshire investors had no idea Buffett’s company had purchased nearly $1 billion of Activision Blizzard shares at an average price of about $77 just weeks before the deal was announced. With the buyout still in limbo, Berkshire sold more than 8.2 million shares in the third quarter and another 7.4 million shares in the fourth quarter. Berkshire now holds 52.7 million shares of ATVI stock worth about $4 billion.
Sold: Chevron Corp. (CVX)
Buffett first invested in U.S. oil major Chevron in the fourth quarter of 2020. Since that time, the oil industry has been on a roller-coaster ride. Buffett sold Chevron shares in the first and second quarters of 2021, but a global energy crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent crude oil prices soaring to 13-year highs in 2022. In response, Buffett added to his Chevron investment in the first three quarters of 2022 but pivoted again in the fourth quarter and sold 2.3 million shares. Berkshire still holds 162.9 million shares worth about $29.2 billion.
Sold: McKesson Corp. (MCK)
McKesson is one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and medical-surgical supplies in the U.S. Buffett was active in the health care sector early in the COVID-19 pandemic, taking large stakes in companies like AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY), Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Merck & Co. (MRK). However, Buffett quickly reversed course and sold off those positions. He took a new 2.9-million share stake in MCK stock in the first quarter of 2022, but he reduced that stake by about 10% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire still holds more than 2.8 million shares of McKesson stock worth about $1 billion.
Bought: Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (LPX)
Louisiana-Pacific is a forest products company that produces oriented strand board, siding and other engineered wood products. The company is highly exposed to the U.S. housing market, which has slowed significantly as interest rates have risen. Buffett may see the stock as a play on an eventual rebound in the housing market. Louisiana-Pacific was a brand-new investment for Buffett in the third quarter, and Berkshire increased its stake by 21% in the fourth quarter. Buffett added nearly 1.25 million shares, bringing Berkshire’s stake up to more than 7 million shares worth about $417 million.
Bought: Apple Inc. (AAPL)
In the fourth quarter, Buffett added another 333,856 shares to his massive Apple stake, bringing his total investment up to more than 895.1 million shares worth a whopping $116.3 billion. Buffett first invested in Apple back in the first quarter of 2016. Today, Berkshire’s Apple stake is more than three times larger than any of its other public stock holdings and represents nearly 40% of Berkshire’s total portfolio. Apple’s stock price has outperformed so far in 2023, and it has been a home-run investment for Buffett, generating a 536% total return since the beginning of 2016.
Bought: Paramount Global (PARA)
Paramount Global is a global entertainment company formed from the merger of Viacom and CBS in 2019. The company owns Paramount Pictures TV and movie studios, TV networks such as CBS and Comedy Central, and streaming platforms Paramount+, Showtime OTT and Pluto TV. Paramount is reasonably valued, priced at just 17.5 times forward earnings and 0.5 times sales. Berkshire increased its stake in Paramount by 16% in the third quarter and another 2% in the fourth quarter to more than 93.6 million shares worth about $1.6 billion. Berkshire now owns 15.4% of Paramount, making the firm Paramount’s largest shareholder.
Sold: Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY)
Ally Financial is a financial holding company that specializes in auto financing and mortgage lending. Ally shares dropped 47% in 2022 as supply shortages hit the auto market and rising mortgage rates weighed on the housing market. Buffett passed on the opportunity to buy the dip in the fourth quarter, instead reducing his stake by 200,000 shares. Ally shares are up 34.6% year to date in 2023 through Feb. 14, thanks to a fourth-quarter earnings beat in January. Fortunately, Berkshire still holds 29.8 million shares of ALLY stock worth about $728.6 million, making Ally a top Berkshire performer in 2023.
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10 Stocks Warren Buffett Just Bought and Sold originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/15/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
