24/7 Wall St. » USG

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

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

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (APOL, CHTR, COST, DNDN, RAIL, GPC, GMCR, HST, INFY, NEM, NOK, PCLN, TTM, USG, WSH)

Administrator — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:15:06 +0000

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

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) Maintained Outperform but raised target to $74 from $60 at Credit Suisse.
Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) Started as Perform at Oppenheimer.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $13 at Credit Suisse.
FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAIL) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Infosys Limited (NASDAQ: INFY) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) Cut to Hold at TD.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Cut to Underperform at Oppenheimer.
priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $790 from $710 at Credit Suisse.
Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Willis Group Holdings, Plc (NYSE: WSH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: APOL, CHTR, COST, DNDN, GMCR, GPC, HST, INFY, NEM, NOK, PCLN, RAIL, TTM, USG, WSH

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

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

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

Administrator — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:45:31 +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 June 30, 2011 and this is the second group of ‘M 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.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares, ALMOST DOUBLE from the 216,000 shares last quarter as a prior new position. Now valued at $122 million.
M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) is 5.363 million, SAME AS before but had been cut in prior quarters.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but this is down from prior reports as Moody’s is slowly getting cut.
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 2.82 million shares; SAME AS before.
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 2,101,125 shares, a NEW POSITION listed as $72.7 million as of June 30.
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) was over 368.6 million; this one GREW AGAIN from the 358.9 million shares at March 31, 2011; was listed as over 342 Million shares one quarter earlier and over 336.4 million two quarters before that.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to L’

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.

Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) was not listed but that is because it was acquired by Berkshire.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private placements.

JON C. OGG

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

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

Administrator — Mon, 16 May 2011 21:05:04 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) is out with its new portfolio holdings as of March 31, 2011. These have been broken down into two separate groups of ‘A to L’ and ‘M to Z’ so it is more concise and clear to see the path of changes. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘M to Z.’ As a reminder, at the quarterly earnings we did see that the equity balance at March 31 grew to over $61.8 billion from $59.8 billion as of December 31, 2010.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is a brand new position, but a small one at 216,000 shares worth about $54.3 million as of March 31.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) is 5.363 million, SAME AS BEFORE after having been previously cut.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) is the same 28.4 million as last quarter, but this is down from prior reports as Moody’s is slowly getting cut.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) had been lowered in a prior period but that has been flat now for two quarters; position is now 76.7 million shares versus 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) is SAME AS BEFORE at just over 4,06 million shares.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) is SAME AS BEFORE at roughly 2.82 million shares.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is the SAME AS BEFORE at roughly 69 million shares.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) SAME AS BEFORE at 17.072 million shares.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) SAME AS BEFORE at 1.429 million shares.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) SAME AS BEFORE at just over 39 million shares after having been raised before in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) SAME AS BEFORE at over 1.72 million shares. Buffett kept his word so far about holding the Washington Post shares despite stepping down from its board.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) grew yet again, but we already knew this after the earnings report. This was listed as more than 358.9 million shares at March 31, 2011. Wells Fargo was listed as over 342 Million shares one quarter earlier and over 336.4 million two quarters ago.
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) is the same at about 5.7 million shares but it doesn’t really matter as Buffett and Berkshire are trying to acquire the rest of the company.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to L’

Again, today’s holding disclosure feels like a lot is missing as Berkshire Hathaway was given permission to not disclose certain positions (most likely Combs’s new picks). The public equities list are $53.6 billion (plus change) versus the $61.8 billion noted above. The Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) position is the only new position that we are allowed to see and it is too small to be a significant position.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private placements.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, Insider Activity Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, WFC, WMT, WPO, WSC

Berkshire Hathaway & Buffett’s Latest Stock Holdings ‘S to Z’ (BRK-B, BRK-A, SNY, TMK, USB, USG, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WSC)

Administrator — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:08:14 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) is out with the new portfolio holdings as of December 31, 2010, so these are his new 2011 investments. There were many changes in the prior groups due to a portfolio manager change. These have been broken down into 3 groups of ‘A to I’ and ‘J to R’ and ‘S to Z’ so it is more concise and clear to see the path of changes etc. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘S to Z.’

Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) is SAME AS BEFORE at just over 4 million shares.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) is SAME AS BEFORE at roughly 2.82 million shares.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) SAME AS BEFORE at roughly 69 million shares.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) SAME AS BEFORE at 17.072 million shares.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) SAME AS BEFORE at 1.429 million shares.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) SAME AS BEFORE at just over 39 million shares after having been raised before.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) SAME AS BEFORE at over 1.72 million shares and Buffett said he was holding shares despite stepping down from its Board of Directors.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) GREW AGAIN AS A HOLDING to more than 342 Million shares; it was 336.4+ million shares last quarter and has grown in prior quarters.
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) SAME AS BEFORE at 5.703 million shares, but now BUFFETT IS ACQUIRING THE REST TO TAKE IT PRIVATE.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to I’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘J to R’

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, WFC, WMT, WPO, WSC

Buffett’s Least Attractive Investments For 2011 (BRK-A, BRK-B, COP, COST, BDX, FISV, NLC, TMK, USG)

Administrator — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:31:59 +0000

Last week we identified the ten Warren Buffett investments with the most implied upside. But we also found that there were many Buffett investments in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) which may be overvalued.

These positions include ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST), Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE: BDX), Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), Nalco Holding Company (NYSE: NLC), Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK), and USG Corporation (NYSE: USG). A couple of these stocks were above their implied target prices, but some only had upside of 1% to 3%. This compares to Buffett’s largest implied upside picks which had more than a 10% hurdle.

We used the closing price as of December 6 for the analysis. We gave a percentage upside based on how much the stocks had to move to reach the Thomson Reuters consensus price target for a year from now. We reviewed the prospects of each company which includes a brief description of the firms, how the shares have performed versus a 52-week range, and analyzed the dividend yields of each corporation.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) closed Monday at $64.18, above the oil giant’s consensus price target of $62.81. Buffett kept his stake in the last quarter unchanged but that is after cutting his position over the past several quarters. He has indicated he might sell the stock for tax purposes but he has retained a modest ownership position. Conoco at least offers a 3.4% dividend yield. Buffett admitted that the timing of this investment was wrong, but the good news is that shares are up more than 50% from the lows in 2009.

Costco Wholesale Corporation’s (NASDAQ: COST) stock is one of the few that has consistently risen lately. It almost always trades at a premium over its peers, but that has not undermined its valuation. After a $69.19 close on Monday, shares hit a 52-week high of $69.41. Does it matter then that analysts have a consensus price target of $68.61 a year out? The dividend yield here is only 1.2%. It is worth noting that shares peaked just above of $70.00 in late-2007 and in early 2008 .

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE: BDX) is the first of several stocks that still have upside but that is so small that it is hardly worth mentioning. Monday’s close for BD was $80.85, and its 52-week trading range is $66.47 to $81.65. The consensus price target for one-year out is $82.23. That implies an upside of only 1.7%, which is below its 2% dividend. The shares still managed to challenge 52-week highs recently. The 52-week trading range is $66.47 to $81.65.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Buffett, Business Services, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Research, Value Investing Tagged: BDX, BRK-A, BRK-B, COP, COST, FISV, NLC, TMK, USG