24/7 Wall St. » MCO

Big Changes to Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to Z

Administrator — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:05:01 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released their most recent U.S.-listed equity holdings for the Berkshire Hathaway empire. This cut off date is as of March 31, 2012 and Mr. Buffett has already said that he was buying some shares since the end of the quarter on weakness.

Also, keep in mind that portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are still new and those new positions of under $200 million $300 million are likely tied to them.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through line by line of each position to see which stocks have been bought and sold as new positions, as well as having added in whether or not the number of shares grew or shrank on each since the prior quarter. We had added some color in on some of the positions if applicable.

Be advised that the number of subsidiaries that this filing covers is 14 entities rather than 18 entities in the prior quarter. There is also a note in the 13F filing showing that the SEC has granted “Confidential Treatment” on some Berkshire stock holdings and that likely suggests that Buffett is still acquiring a position he does not want the public to know about yet. This filing does not signal the half-dozen or more European shares that Buffett said he bought so that remains an outstanding issue as well.

The value of the stock portfolio was $66,151,587,000 at the end of 2011 and this was listed as $75,300,250,000 at the end of March 2012.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is now 5.6 million shares, HIGHER THAN the 1,793,915 shares last quarter.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is the SAME SIZE at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter and having been raised one quarter ago.

Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters in past reports.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.

Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is now 6 million shares worth $541 million and that LARGER THAN BEFORE after having been a new position of 2.684 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed at 22.999 million worth over $1.13 billion. This one had been 20.348 million shares worth $870 million one quarter earlier and it had been a new position just two quarters ago at 4.249 million shares.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Compensation, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, DVA, featured, GCI, GE, GM, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO

Lowered Forecast Hammers D&B (DNB, EFX, FICO, MCO, MHP)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:50:08 +0000

Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (NYSE: DNB), one of the venerable names in business and credit data, is taking some lumps this morning following lowered fiscal year forecast and the closure of one of the company’s Chinese units that is currently being investigated by the Chinese government.

Along with Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FICO), Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO), and the Standard & Poor’s division of The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP), D&B provides the information many lenders use to make credit decisions. Unlike the other companies, D&B has not been able to hit an EPS estimate for several quarters in a row now. Revenue estimates have fared just as badly.

Perhaps as an effort to reset expectations, D&B revised its revenue growth estimate from a range of 3% to 5% to a new range of 0-3% when it reported quarterly results last night. The downward change likely recognizes the increasing competition from competitors like Equifax and Moody’s.

D&B’s shares are down -13.8% at $65.26 in a 52-week range of $58.50-$86.52.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Business Services, Earnings Tagged: DNB, EFX, FICO, MCO, MHP

What Happens to Warren Buffett’s Top 10 Performing Stocks of 2012? (BRK-B, BRK-A, USG, IR, MCO, AXP, WFC, V, BK, VRSK, INTC, MA, AAPL, JNJ, BAC)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:46:56 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) will be in the news quite a bit now that the world’s most famous investor, chairman Warren Buffett, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We already have offered a brief road map of what investors can expect in the months ahead based on the face value of the news and based on Mr. Buffett’s comments. With so many investors wondering what comes next, we wanted to take a look at Berkshire Hathaway’s best-performing stock holdings so far in 2012.

Some investors may worry that, if Buffett were to leave, the portfolio would perhaps find a large rotation out of current positions. While anything is possible, we expect almost no change whatsoever to the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio based on the cancer news. Some new stocks may still get added with two new portfolio managers inside the conglomerate. Some stocks also may get paired down further. That being said, Buffett has treated these holdings in many cases as though they are “partner companies” rather than mere stock investments that are to be bought and sold solely based on the price gain or loss at a certain time.

Buffett’s top 10 performers so far this year are significantly outperforming the broader market indexes. The DJIA is currently up about 8.1% so far in 2012, and the S&P 500 Index is outperforming the DJIA with a gain of 11.3%, due to such a high weighting and strong performance of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is only up by 5.7% so far in 2012, and that is before the effect of Buffett’s cancer news. Only one of Berkshire Hathaway’s 30-plus common stocks is down so far in 2012, and that is Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), with a loss of only 1.2%.

What was most interesting about the holdings noted as 2012’s 10 best performers is that the dividends are often paltry. Most have dividend yields that are well below average. We have given some color on each position, shown some trends on each, and shown the price and relative price performance on each. It is no coincidence that the financial stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio are up so much when you consider that the financial sector led the market in the first quarter and so far this year.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is Warren Buffett’s single best stock performer so far in 2012, as Americans continue to look for ways to play a coming housing recovery. The latest NAHB confidence dip may be a concern, but perhaps a remodel housing economy can be enough to return a turnaround here. What is interesting is that Thomson Reuters is currently looking for a loss of $1.30 per share in 2012 and a loss of $0.52 in 2013, despite what it expects to be rising sales. Unlike most of Buffett’s top stocks, USG pays no common dividend. The $16.89 share price compares too a 52-week trading range of $5.75 to $19.44.

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) turned out to be Buffett’s second-best common stock in 2012, with a gain of 32%. The company makes tools, compressed air systems, ARO fluid products and lifting and material handling products, among other products and services. The dividend yield here is roughly 1.6%. At $40.06, its 52-week trading range is $25.86 to $52.33.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity, Large Cap Stocks, Mutual Funds, Shareholder Issues Tagged: AAPL, AXP, BAC, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, INTC, IR, JNJ, MA, MCO, USG, V, VRSK, WFC

Media Digest (4/16/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT

247wallst — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:34:00 +0000

Concerns about Spain and Italy renew capital markets’ rejection of area debt. (Reuters)

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) will have to bring in an outsider to change the company’s old philosophy. (Reuters)

The Treasury lauds China’s plan to widen the yuan’s trading range. (Reuters)

Sergey Brin of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) says the openness of the Internet is under pressure. (Reuters)

Carlyle will try to raise $763 million from its IPO. (Reuters)

The case between Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Google over whether Android violates Java patents is about to begin. (WSJ)

Chinese companies increase buyouts of Japanese firms. (WSJ)

European Central Bank official Jörg Asmussen says nations need to put more money into the International Monetary Fund to help stop the European crisis. (WSJ)

Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) may cut ratings of 114 banks in 16 European nations. (WSJ)

Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) replaces the head of it international operations. (WSJ)

China’s change in international trading ranges for daily trading is a move to make it a reserve currency. (WSJ)

Housing concerns in the United States and abroad continue to dog the recovery. (WSJ)

Merck (NYSE: MRK) will press for improved manufacturing of its shingles vaccine Zostavax. (WSJ)

Renault keeps share in Europe with low-cost cars. (WSJ)

Gold bulls begin to desert the metal. (WSJ)

New York’s public pension funds successfully press Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and MetLife (NYSE: MET) to disclose data about racial and gender demographics of some of their staffs. (NYT)

Wall St. firms challenge Fed plans to limit their exposure on individual companies and government securities — Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) say it will cut credit commitments of over $1.2 trillion. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: BAC, BBY, C, GOOG, GRPN, GS, JPM, MCO, MET, MRK, MS, ORCL

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, ADP, KFT, PG, MCO, LULU, ADGF, CHTP, AEO, BWS, CSIQ, CTIC, HOV, TRCR, MAG, BONT, P, VRML)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:10:13 +0000

US stocks opened higher this morning following an in-line report from ADP on US employment gains. There was little economic news out today, but we can anticipate tomorrow’s report on new jobless claims and, of course, the biggie, Friday’s report on non-farm payrolls. By mid-morning stocks were solidly higher and have been trading more than half a point pretty consistently. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) pretty well shut down the afternoon news with its new iPad announcement (more coverage here). The dollar was weaker this morning and has fluctuated somewhat on the downside all day, trading down -0.12% now at 79.715. Crude oil has been higher on the weaker greenback, with WTI closing up 1.4% at $106.16/barrel and Brent crude up 1.99% at $124.41/barrel. Gold rose 0.7% today, settling at $1,683.90/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 79 points to 12,837.78 (0.62%), the NASDAQ rose more than 25 points (0.87%) to 2,935.69, and the S&P 500 rose 0.69% or more than 9 points to 1,352.63.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) raised to ‘Focus List’ at Credit Suisse; Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) cut to ‘neutral at UBS; and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Adams Golf Inc. (NASDAQ: ADGF) is up 1.7% at $9.60; Chelsea Therapeutics International Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTP) is up 2.3% at $3.57; American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is up 6.1% at $15.52; Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS) is down -9.3% at $9.46; Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is down -12.8% at $2.86; Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is up 0.80% at $1.26; and Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is up 3.3% at $2.48.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Transcend Services Inc. (NASDAQ: TRCR) is up more than 39% at $29.24. The medical transcription service is being acquired by Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) for $300 million in net cash ($29.50/share). More coverage here.

Magnetek Inc. (NASDAQ: MAG) is up 22% at $17.50. The electrical equipment maker posted a robust quarterly earnings report today.

The Bon Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is up more than 32% at $6.95. The retailer reported lower-than-expected earnings and revenues, but its forecast is above expectations.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) is down more than -24% at $10.83. The Internet radio company posted worse than expected earnings last night. More coverage here.

Vermillion Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML) is down -29% at $2.13. The medical device maker’s stock more than doubled yesterday, and today’s action is likely a bit of profit-taking following an analyst’s downgrade. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger Gray & Christmas job-cut report
8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10.00 a.m. – Census Bureau quarterly services survey
10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AAPL, ADGF, ADP,, AEO, BONT, BWS, CHTP, CSIQ, CTIC, HOV, KFT, LULU, MAG, MCO, P, PG, TRCR, VRML

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAPL, ADP, ESRX, GGP, KFT, LULU, MHS, MCO, P, PG, VRSK, VRML)

Administrator — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:03:58 +0000

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) named Bull of the Day and raised to Outperform with $654 target at Zacks.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) Raised to Focus List at Credit Suisse.

Express Scripts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) Started as Neutral at Citigroup.

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

MedcoHealth Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) Started as Neutral at UBS.

Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE: P) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James; Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) Started as Neutral at UBS.

Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML) Cut to Sell at Ladenberg Thalmann.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ADP,, ESRX, GGP, KFT, LULU, MCO, MHS, P, PG, VRML, VRSK

Berkshire Hathaway & Buffett’s Stock Holdings ‘L to Z’ (BRK-B, BRK-A, LMCA, MA, MTB, MCO, PG, SNY, TMK, USB, USG, UPS, VRSK, V, WMT, WPO, WFC)

Administrator — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:05:03 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released the latest holdings of U.S.-listed equities as of December 31, 2011. We have included some accompanying notes on each and this has been broken into two groups to make it more concise on each page.

Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LMCA) is a NEW POSITION of 1.7 million shares worth some $132.7 million.
M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) is 5.38+ million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares, the SAME AS last quarter and up from the quarter before that.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but way down from prior quarters and years.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was 76.7 million shares, SAME AS last quarter but lower than the 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was 4.06 million shares; SAME AS before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) was more than 4.2 million, SAME AS last quarter after having been raised in a prior quarter.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was roughly 69 million shares; SAME AS before.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) was 17.072 million shares; SAME AS before.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was 1.429 million shares; SAME AS before.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was already a LOWER POSITION at 3.445 million shares after being recently added as a new position and then grown.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a LARGER POSITION of 2.865 million shares worth $291 million; was 2.291 million shares previously.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was just over 39 million shares; SAME AS before after having been raised in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) was over 1.72 million shares; SAME AS before.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was a LARGER POSITION AGAIN at more than 383 million shares.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to K’

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Buffett, Conglomerates Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO

Top Earnings Previews For Wednesday (AKAM, CSCO, CSC, ENB, GRPN, IM, ICE, LVLT, MCO, NWSA, PNG, PAA, PRU, RL, RAI, S, TWX, VICL, V, WFM)

Administrator — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:30:51 +0000

We are entering into the last waves of the normalized quarterly earnings reports for companies with December 31 quarter-end dates, and we are entering the first waves of the earnings reports from companies with off-normal quarter-ends. Wednesday is going to be another busy day with many earnings.

The earnings previews are for the following: Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM); Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML); Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC); Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB); Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM); IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE); Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT); Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO); News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA); PAA Natural Gas Storage L.P. (NYSE: PNG); Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA); Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU); Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL); Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI); Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S); Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX); Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL); Visa Inc. (NYSE: V); and Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM).

We have compiled earnings preview on each company using Thomson Reuters consensus estimates and added color on each if applicable. Some are market moving, some are sector moving, and some are just interesting for traders to watch around the earnings reports.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) has estimates of $0.40 EPS and $311.26 million in revenues.

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) has estimates of $0.09 EPS and $401.5 million in revenues. Growth is gone, but it still screens as value.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has estimates of $0.43 EPS and $11.23 billion in revenues. Preliminary preview notes are available.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) has estimates of $0.58 EPS and $3.98 billion in revenues. As a reminder, CSC has warned on earnings. This one shows up as a value stock in all sorts of investor screens but it is a value trap.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings Tagged: AKAM, CSC, CSCO, ENB, GRPN, ICE, IM, LVLT, MCO, NWSA, PAA, PNG, PRU, RAI, RL, S, TWX, V, VICL, WFM

Warren Buffett’s Top Stocks of 2012 (BRK-B, SPY, USG, BAC, IR, MCO, INTC, WFC, AXP)

Administrator — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:23:17 +0000

2012 is getting off to a great start for the equity markets. We recently looked at the performance of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B), which is underperforming this year so far with a gain of 3.1% to-date in 2012. The S&P 500, or the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) is up 5.5%. We looked through all of Warren Buffett’s stock holdings of late and some of his non-equity holdings to see which positions were leading so far.

The surprise winner so far in 2012 after the first month is USG Corporation (NYSE: USG). then there are stocks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP). Yep, the other winners of these seven holdings are mostly tied to finance.

We have evaluated the performance to date (from FinViz.com) and added in some color on each. We have also shown how the price compares to the 52-week highs or to the consensus price target as well, and included in some cases whether the position is substantial or not.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is up 32.8% year-to-date and is actually Berkshire Hathaway’s top performing stock. With so much interest in the bottoming out of housing at some point in 2012, it may not be that ridiculous even if the fundamentals have not changed all that much yet. The concern here is that at $13.50 it now trades above the consensus $13.30 price target. Buffett holds over 17 million USG shares.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is up 32.4% year-to-date and the new large preferred position is back to where Warren Buffett doesn’t look foolish for dreaming up his investment in BofA while in the bath. At $7.36 there is still plenty of upside to the $8.90 price target and this remains (and is expected to remain) well under book value.

Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) is up 15.5% year-to-date, not bad for what is usually a slower-moving company with a portfolio of industrial and commercial products. At $35.18, it does not have much upside left to the consensus price target of $37.94 but it is still way off the 52-week high of $52.33. Buffett’s position is way down from prior periods and is only 636,600 shares as of the last report. This position just can’t move the entire Berkshire Hathaway Barometer too much.

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is up 11.6% year-to-date. The credit rating agency has been a controversial position that Buffett has lightened up on through time. At $37.60, it is close to the consensus price target of $39.60 and under the 52-week high of $41.93. Buffett did lighten up a bit on this position but still holds roughly 28.4 million shares.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 9.5% year-to-date and is one of the news 2011 investments that Mr. Buffett hid. It was also his first technology pick as far as pure hardware is concerned. At $26.55, Intel is very close to its 52-week high of $27.00 and close to its consensus analyst price target of $27.17.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 8.9% year-to-date and is up the least of the big money-center banks. It is also the only one of the money-center banks trading above book value because the restructuring regulatory climate over future earnings will create the least amount of change at Wells Fargo. Buffett keeps adding here and now holds over 361 million shares as one of his biggest positions ever.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 7.7% year-to-date, which is lower than many financials. The recent earnings report showed improvement but perhaps a trend towards peaking of the improving credit metrics of AmEx customers. Buffett’s position is roughly 151.6 million shares.

Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent holdings in entirety can be found here.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Banking, Buffett, Dividend, Index, Value Investing Tagged: AXP, BAC, BRK-B, INTC, IR, MCO, SPY, USG, WFC

Berkshire Hathaway & Buffett’s Stock Holdings ‘L to Z’ (BRK-B, BRK-A, MA, MTB, MCO, PG, SNY, TMK, USB, USG, UPS, VRSK, V, WMT, WPO, WFC)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:08:08 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released the latest holdings of U.S.-listed equities as of September 30, 2011 and this is the second group of ‘L to Z’ in the public equities. We have included some accompanying notes on each. Keep in mind that Todd Combs is a new portfolio manager and his new positions were given ‘special exemptions’ from being disclosed last quarter.

M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) is 5.38+ million shares, UP ONLY A TAD from the 5.363 million last quarter but this one had been cut in prior quarters.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares valued at $128.45 million. The position is the SAME AS last quarter but still almost double from the quarter before.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but way down from prior quarters and years.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was 76.7 million shares and listed as THE SAME as last quarter but lower than the 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was 4.06 million shares; SAME AS before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) was more than 4.2 million, a LARGER POSITION than the 2.82 million shares last quarter.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was roughly 69 million shares; SAME AS before.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) was 17.072 million shares; SAME AS before.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was 1.429 million shares; SAME AS before.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was ALMOST DOUBLE in shares at 4.202 million worth $146.1 million versus the 2,101,125 shares a quarter before when it had been started as a new position.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a NEW POSITION of 2.291 million shares worth $96.44 million.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was just over 39 million shares; SAME AS before after having been raised in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) was over 1.72 million shares; SAME AS before and Buffett kept his word so far about holding the Washington Post shares despite stepping down from its board.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over 361 million shares a HIGHER POSITION than the 352+ million last quarter.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to K’

As noted earlier… today’s holding disclosure has missing data as Berkshire Hathaway was given permission and likely still does not include the full holdings: Confidential information has been omitted from the Form 13F and filed separately with the Commission.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Mutual Funds Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO