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Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway New Stock Holdings: Value, Dividends, Growth

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:18:58 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) and Warren Buffett released the conglomerate’s stock holdings as of March 31, 2013. This 13F filing with the SEC shows that the company’s total equity holdings came to $85.001 billion, up from $75.3 billion at the end of 2012. Portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are getting even more entrenched as far as their ability to add to positions. You will see that the Berkshire Hathaway stock portfolio is concentrated in companies paying dividends, as well as value stocks and growth stocks alike.

The new Buffett holdings are below.

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

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was almost 19 million shares, which appears to be slightly lower but it had been raised before. What matters here is that it remains a substantial holding still.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (NYSE: CBI) was a NEW POSITION at just over 6.5 million shares worth over $400 million.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was more than 400 million shares due to the stock split of 2012, but this is virtually the SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is the SAME POSITION at 24.1 million shares, but this is lower than in prior quarters.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was the SAME POSITION at 4,333,363 shares.

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) was a LARGER POSITION and already more than a 10% stake and we recently saw that Berkshire Hathaway had entered into a standstill agreement not to buy more than 25% of the company after already having increased its stake recently. This was listed as 14.97 million shares as of March 31 versus 13.6 million shares before.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was the SAME POSITION at roughly 4 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) was HIGHER YET AGAIN at 37.275 million shares versus almost 34 million shares and that was also higher than before.

Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) was the SAME POSITION of 1.74 million shares.

General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) is listed as the SAME POSITION at 588,900 shares, but this is still way down from prior reports.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is the SAME POSITION at 25 million shares, but this was previously up from smaller positions.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) is the SAME POSITION at 1.51 million shares.

Filed under: Industrials Tagged: ADM, AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, DE, DVA, GCI, GD, GE, GM, GSK, HNZ, IBM, JNJ, JPM, KFT, KO, LEE, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, NOV, PCP, PG, PSX, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, WBC, WFC, WMT, WPO

Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett Make Many Portfolio Changes for 2013

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:22:13 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett may have surprised the markets with the $28 billion purchase of H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), but there is another look to consider here. The conglomerate’s most recent U.S.-listed equity holdings have been released and investors will want to know that this is as of December 31, 2012.

Portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are getting even more entrenched as far as their ability to add to positions. The new Buffett holdings are below. American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was roughly 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) was listed as a NEW POSITION of 5.95 million shares worth some $163.1 million as of the end of 2012.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) appears to be the SAME SIZE at over 19.6 million shares, but that is after gains had been reported in prior quarters.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was more than 400 million shares due to the stock split of 2012, but this is virtually the SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is the SAME AS BEFORE at 24.1 million shares, but this is lower than in prior quarters.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was 4,333,363 shares, SAME AS last quarter.

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) was already more than a 10% stake, but a new filing shows that Buffett and various entities own a collective 13.6 million shares for a 13.0% stake. This position has grown and grown and is a LARGER STAKE. This stock has risen and risen while Buffett kept adding the position.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was the SAME AS LAST QUARTER at roughly 4 million shares, but this was previously a new position.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION AGAIN at almost 34 million shares versus 29.555 million shares before that and it had grown another quarter before as well.

Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) was 1.74 million, SAME AS BEFORE but decreased in prior quarters.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) is the SAME AS BEFORE at 3.877 million shares.

General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) is listed as THE SAME 588,900 shares, but this is still way down from the 5.008 million shares and 7.777 million shares the two prior quarter.

Filed under: Industrials Tagged: ADM, AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DE, DG, DVA, GCI, GE, GM, GSK, HNZ, IBM, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, LEE, LMCA, MA, MCO, MDLZ, MTB, NOV, PCP, PG, PSX, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, VRSN, WBC, WFC, WMT, WPO

Buffett’s Significant Changes to Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:33:28 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) (NYSE: BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released their most recent U.S.-listed equity holdings. Many changes had been made in the June quarter and Mr. Buffett had already said that Berkshire Hathaway had accumulated more shares. The cut-off and as-of date for the holdings below is September 30, 2012 unless noted individually.

Portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are getting more and more entrenched as far as their ability to add to positions. It should also be mentioned that Warren Buffett was out for much of the summer for his prostate cancer treatment. While the net dollar amounts were not much different, the number of changes here were very significant.

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

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was over 19.6 million shares, another gain versus the more than 18.7 million shares last quarter (and versus 5.6 million shares previously, and the 1,793,915 shares even before then).

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was more than 400 million shares, which is about double the number of shares before but that is because of the stock split. Treat this as the SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is lower yet again and this was about 24.1 million shares versus almost 28.9 million shares last quarter, and lower than the 29.1 million shares two quarters ago. See below at the Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) stake.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was 4,333,363 shares, SAME AS last quarter.

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is now more than a 10% stake and has grown from 9.3 million shares as of June 30, 2012 and higher than the 6 million reported as of March. Furthermore, the stake listed as of 9/30 is irrelevant. Recent filings have shown that Berkshire keeps buying more and more shares on the open market. A filing on 11/13/2012 showed that over the prior few days that some 548,823 shares had been purchased at an average of $112.15 and that the indirect ownership by Berkshire Hathaway was 11,748.045 shares.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was listed as NEW POSITION of about 4 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION again at 29.555 million shares versus 28.4 million shares last time and 22.999 million two quarters ago.

Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) was 1.74 million, SAME AS BEFORE but decreased in prior quarters.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) is the SAME AS BEFORE at 3.877 million shares after being a new position before.

General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) is a MUCH LOWER STAKE at 588,900 shares versus 5.008 million shares last quarter and versus 7.777 million shares the quarter before.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is a LARGER STAKE at 15 million shares versus 10 million shares last quarter.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, SAME AS PRIOR QUARTERS.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was A LARGER POSITION at over 67.5 million shares, up slightly from 66.63 million shares last quarter and the prior quarter at 64.395 million shares.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was a MUCH LOWER POSITION again at just under 500,000 shares. This is down from 10.33 million shares last quarter and versus about 29 million shares the prior quarter. The peak was way up at 62 million shares.

Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KRFT) was AGAIN A LOWER POSITION at 40.46 million shares, down from 58.8 million shares last quarter and versus 78 million shares before that.

Lee Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LEE) was an ALREADY REDUCED down to 1.13 million shares from 3,225,822 shares shown initially. This was one that Buffett had asked for confidentiality treatment on in his newspaper endeavors.

Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ: LMCA) is a the same at 5.5 million shares versus, but that was lifted last quarter from the prior two quarters.

M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) is 5.38+ million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares, the SAME AS last quarter but up from two quarters before that.

Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but way down from prior quarters and years.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was a LARGER position at 4.18 million shares versus what had been a new position of 2.84 million shares last quarter.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was the SAME AS LAST QUARTER at about 27.1 million shares, but this was a new position last quarter even though it had been telegraphed.

Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE: PCP) was listed as a NEW STAKE of almost 1.25 million shares.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was 52.8 million shares, LOWER THAN BEFORE and a steady shrinking position in recent quarters from a peak of 96.3 million shares.

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 DOWN AGAIN to 61.2+ million shares from 66 million shares last quarter and about 69 million shares in the prior quarters.

USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) was 17.072 million shares; SAME AS before.

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was ALMOST ELIMINATED ENTIRELY down to 59,400 shares from 261,900 shares last quarter and versus 1.429 million shares two quarters ago.

Verisk Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was LOWERED YET AGAIN to 1.563 million shares.

Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA) was a LARGER POSITION AGAIN at 7.6+ million shares versus 6.8 million shares last quarter and having been a new position of 1.59 million shares two quarters earlier.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was 1.555 million shares, a LOWER POSITION YET AGAIN versus 2.079 million shares last quarter and versus 2.865 million shares previously.

WABCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC) is a NEW POSITION of about 1.6 million shares but that is less than $100 million.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was THE SAME STAKE at just over 46.7 million shares.

Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) was over 1.72 million shares; SAME AS before.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was HIGHER YET AGAIN at over 420 million shares more than 394.3 million shares last quarter. Buffett keeps growing this stake and he telegraphed that he had.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) had been smaller before and it has now been eliminated entirely from prior holdings of just over 5.3 million shares and then 7.106 million shares two quarters ago.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was ELIMINATED ENTIRELY from 3.32 million shares last quarter and versus 4.497 million shares before that.

Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) has now been entirely eliminated as we expected. Berkshire was down to on 20,400 shares last quarter versus 636,600 shares in the first quarter. We would note that the total value of today’s public equity holdings was listed as over $75.3 billion, which is up from $74.32 billion last quarter and virtually the same as the $75.3 billion the prior quarter.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Industrials Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DE, DG, DVA, GCI, GE, GM, GSK, IBM, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, LEE, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, NOV, PCP, PG, PSX, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, WBC, WFC, WMT, WPO

Small & Mid-Cap Stocks With 50% Upside In 2012 (OIS, OI, ROSE, WBC, CIE)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:01:47 +0000

In December you get to see all sorts of predictions and stock picks from market pundits for the year ahead. This year is no different, and Credit Suisse has issued this month its list of Small Cap Stocking Stuffers. In the heart of the small-cap and mid-cap universe, called the SMID, Credit Suisse had ten new additions and the total group was twenty-four stocks. We pulled those with the most implied upside and the following had implied upside of close to 50% or more in the year ahead: Oil States International Inc. (NYSE: OIS); Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI); Rosetta Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE); and WABCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC). Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CIE) is a “runner-up” only now because it has outperformed the market so much this month.

We have shown how Credit Suisse’s price targets compare to the consensus targets and shown price history as well to give investors a feel for what the price targets might imply. Other color has been added in if applicable.

Oil States International Inc. (NYSE: OIS) is in the Energy Equipment & Services sector. Credit Suisse’s Arun Jayaram has an Outperform rating on the stock and it has been on the top picks list since September under the growth category. Shares are trading at $75.00 and the $110.00 price target objective implies upside of almost 47%. Thomson Reuters has a $95.92 consensus price target on Oil States and Credit Suisse has the “street high” target. It should be worth noting that shares tanked in the summer sell-off and they have now recovered actually by about 50% since the September-October selling climax.

Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) is in the Metal and Glass Containers sector and Credit Suisse’s Al Kabili has an Outperform rating and it is listed as a value stock. This stock was added to the top picks list in mid-December. At $18.65, there is an implied upside of almost 61% to the firm’s $30.00 price target. Interestingly enough, the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is $28.11 and the highest target from other analysts is $32.00. It looks like there are still many bullish analysts here on this one outside of Credit Suisse. The summer sell-off was brutal here as shares were more than cut in half at the extreme point before recovering recently.

Rosetta Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) is in the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production segment. Credit Suisse’s Mark Lear has an Outperform rating and calls ita growth stock. At $44.00, there is an implied upside of 52% to the firm’s $67.00 price target. The Thomson Reuters consensus price target is $58.64 and the year high is $58.04. There are some other analysts with far higher expectations as there is one price target as high as $82.00 on the stock. This one has been an aggressive earnings growth name and that is expected to remain in 2012.

WABCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC) is into braking, stability, suspension, and transmission control systems primarily for commercial vehicles. Credit Suisse’s Peter Chang has an Outperform rating on Wabco as a growth stock. The $43.00 share price today leaves an implied 53% upside to the firm’s $66.00 price target. This one has been very volatile as the 52-week range is $34.17 to $75.00. Credit Suisse is only a tad more bullish than the consensus as Thomson Reuters has a median price target of $63.71 and the highest analyst price target is $71.00.

Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CIE) is now just a “runner-up” in the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production segment and Credit Suisse’s Edward Westlake has an Outperform rating. This one was added as a fresh addition to the top picks list in December, but investors have effectively missed this one. It had 50% implied upside to the $17.00 price target at the time, but now shares have risen to $15.98. If it matters, Thomson Reuters has a higher consensus price target of $18.40 on the stock.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Energy (Business) Tagged: CIE, OI, OIS, ROSE, WBC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (WIFI, COG, CSCO, CPWM, DMD, DRYS, GS, GMCR, JDSU, JNPW, WFR, MS, SPWRA, WBC, WEN, YUM, ZION)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:26:41 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Boingo Wireless, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIFI) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
Cost Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) called the daily Value Stock at Zacks.
Demand Media, Inc. (NYSE: DMD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Started as Underperform at RBC.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) Reiterated Buy with $97 target at Canaccord Genuity.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) called Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Started as Underperform at RBC.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
WABCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. (NYSE: WEN) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy with $62 target at Argus.
Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) Raised to Outperform at KBW.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Investing Tagged: COG, CPWM, CSCO, DMD, DRYS, GMCR, GS, JDSU, JNPW, MS, SPWRA, WBC, WEN, WFR, WiFi, YUM, ZION

The More Focused, and More Opaque, Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B, BNI, UNP, NSC, GS, GE, TIF, HOG, WMT, COP, XOM, WFC, RSG, DOW, ETN, WBC, MCO, WLP, UNH, GSK, SNY, GCI, WPO)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:59:22 +0000

This was an important week for investment guru and billionaire watchers to see which gurus were holding which stocks. The full public equity holdings of Warren Buffett via Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) were particularly of note, particularly with those B shares under “BRK-B” soon to split and giving a chance for even the less astute ranks of Joe Public to own a piece of the Berkshire dream. Obviously the huge change is via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) buyout. As part of this deal, Buffett is exiting Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and exiting Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) stakes of about $600 million and $100 million, respectively, to avoid duplication and internal competition. The rail transport play now accounts for about one-quarter of the total Berkshire Hathaway entity upon closing. But the less obvious position in that Warren Buffett in 2009 has made it clear that there will be a simpler and probably less “stock-hound” version of Berkshire Hathaway ahead.

Buffett has gone higher up the food chain and is likely to be a creditor now inside or to large institutions. We have seen this during the crisis. Buffett negotiated a better deal for Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) than the US Government was able to get. Buffett’s preferred stock in Goldman Sachs has a dividend of 10% and is callable at any time at a 10% premium; but Buffett also got warrants to purchase $5 billion of common stock with a strike price of $115.00 per share, exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now), and Buffett would effectively get to pocket $61 per share if he exercised those all today at the market (and with a $2.6 billion warrant profit alone).

The General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) stake was listed only as 7.77 million shares of common stock (about $125 million now), the same as it has been for quarters. Yet last year Buffett came to the rescue with a $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering with a dividend of 10% and warrants to purchase $3 billion of common stock. The preferred is callable after 3-years (2 years now) at a 10% premium; the warrants have a strike price of $22.25 and are exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now).

Two other investments in preferred or note offerings made in the last year during the financial crunch were in Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) in February via 10% senior notes and in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) with a 15% rate. Neither of these are in the Buffett equity holdings.

Buffett increased his holdings in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) to 37.8 million shares versus 19.9 million shares. This could easily be hiked from about $1.9 billion today to almost infinity with its $208 billion market cap. With over 10% officially unemployed in the U.S., Wal-Mart has become the shopping destination of millions more of Americans and that value and thrift trend is not likely to end any time soon.

Then there is the ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) bet that Buffett got his timing very wrong on. He cut his stake again here to 57.4 million shares versus almost 62.5 million shares and still has the tax benefit for selling. He added Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) with a 1.27 million share stake. As Exxon is the largest company by market cap at $357 billion, this is much easier for Buffett to invest into rather than $79 billion market cap today in ConocoPhillips.

The Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) stake which he grew yet again is worth over $8.7 billion, and Buffett could probably insert more money there through time if it gets cheap again. Then there is the new Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) position of 3.625 million shares ($100 million today) where Buffett is just investing alongside buddy Bill Gates now that Gates’ entity has a board seat there and a huge stake.

Then there are the overseas bets, and these are just some:

$2.5 billion into diversified Swiss Reinsurance Co. Ltd.
$4 billion to buy control of Iscar Metalworking in Israel
$230 million for a 10% stake in BYD for electric batteries in China
$144 million or so stake in Nestle

Buffett lent $4.4 billion to Mars for the Wrigley buyout. He also lent Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) $3 billion for part of the Rohm & Haas deal. As noted earlier, Buffett is going higher up the food chain. In fact, he is almost becoming the default alternative investment bank. And he has cut down and exiting equity positions as well.

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN), in power management, and WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC), in parts and systems for mostly commercial vehicles, were dropped entirely this last quarter. It seems as though Buffett is also systematically exiting the Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) position now that the business model has changed. He still holds too much there, but maybe better late than never.

Buffett is also not betting against the Obama health care plan as he cut his stakes in both Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH). It will be interesting to see if Buffett hangs on to those drug company stakes in GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), at 1.51 million shares, and Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY), of more than 3.9 million shares.

Then when considering Buffett’s comments about the poor future of print media, you have to wonder if the Oracle of Omaha just won’t take his licks in Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) worth only about $39 million today and Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) worth $730 million today.

It still seems obvious that Buffett would like to hold a large utility as a wholly owned subsidiary. That may be his next ‘whale of a deal’ after he builds his cash back up over $20 billion. Buffett got burned on his dollar bet before, but he is active internationally. The BNSF deal is arguably a China-coal bet rather than an “all-in bet on the future of America,” assuming that is not symbiotic. This now makes Berkshire Hathaway even more of a financial and transport operation, with far less emphasis on public common stock bets. And he is going higher on the food chain. It will alsways be interesting to see how Buffett invests the Berkshire Hathaway fortune. But what is obvious is that he is starting to get out of the way of some bets and make more concentrated bets elsewhere. The new Berkshire Hathaway is more of a financial and transportation operator now… more than ever… that is also acting as private investment banker. The investment changes over the last year are showing more of a penchant for debt and being higher up the food chain than just common stock in the U.S.

This all acts to make Berkshire Hathaway more predictable in operations and even more of a true conglomerate. And it makes the passive investments a bit more opaque.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, key analyst calls, and more.

Again, here is the full list of Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway US public stock holdings.

JON C. OGG
November 19, 2009

Posted in Active Trader, Activist Investor, Banking & Finance, Bonds, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Dividends & Buybacks, Editor's Picks, Industrials, Infrastructure, Large Cap Stocks, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity, Transportation, Transports, Value Investing Tagged: BNI, BRK-A, BRK-B, COP, DOW, ETN, GCI, GE, GS, GSK, HOG, MCO, NSC, RSG, SNY, TIF, UNH, UNP, WBC, WFC, WLP, WMT, WPO, XOM

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings P-Z Q3-2009 (BRK-A, BRK-B, PG, RSG, SNY, STI, TMK, TRV, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC, WBC)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:11:06 +0000

This is the list of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) public US equity holdings as of September 30, 2009. As noted in the “A to F” and “G to O” lists, there have been changes since the cut off date and those have been noted where applicable. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘P to Z.’

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, the same as before.
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) 3.625 million shares; NEW POSITION following Bill Gates.
Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, same as before.
Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) 3.079 million shares; DOWN FROM 3.2+ the quarter before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
Travellers Cos (NYSE: TRV) 27,336; NEW POSITION but small.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; Same as quarter before.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 3.4 million shares; DOWN from 4.5 million last quarter and down from over 6 million in Q1.
Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as quarter before but this does not matter as Buffett is dumping his non-BNSF rail holdings.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) 37.8 million; WAY UP from the 19.9+ million shares last quarter.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) 313.3 million shares; ABOVE THE PRIOR 302+ million last quarter and above the 290+ million in Q1.
Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.394 million; DOWN SLIGHTLY from the 3.5 million last quarter and from the 4.7773 million in Q1.
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) IS GONE after being 2.7 million shares last quarter.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’

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JON C. OGG

Posted in Active Trader, Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, Industrials Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, PG, RSG, SNY, STI, TMK, TRV, UNH, UNP, UPS, USB, USG, WBC, WFC, WLP, WMT, WPO, WSC

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q2-2009 Holdings P to Z (BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:22:05 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has released its public stock holdings for Q2-2009 as of June 30, 2009. Buffett did make some portfolio changes that have been seen here from the end of Q1 and we have broken these down into 3 groups of ‘A to F’ and ‘G to O’ and ‘P to Z’ so these are easier to see on one page. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘P to Z.’

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, same as before.
Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, looks same as before.
Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million is same as before after it had been raised in Q1.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 4.5 million; down from over 6 million.
Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as Q1 after growing the Q1 over Q4 position.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares, same as before.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares, same as before.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over 302 million; ABOVE the 290+ million shares the quarter before.
Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.5 million; DOWN from the 4.7773 million shares in Q1.
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’
JON C. OGG
AUGUST 14, 2009

Posted in Buffett Tagged: BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, UNH, UNP, UPS, USB, USG, WBC, WFC, WLP, WMT, WPO, WSC

More Stocks For Buffett To Unload (BRK-A, MCO, COP, CEG, GCI, WPO, MTB, WBC)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:48:02 +0000

How frequently has Warren Buffett been bashed by the media over Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE: BRK-A) lackluster performance ? What was interesting to see is his stake being lowered in Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO). The only thing that was surprising to us was that it took the Oracle of Omaha this long to begin selling these shares. Because Buffett is such a large stakeholder, we do expect that he’ll always hold some shares. Conversely, we think he’ll continue to lighten up his stake in Moody’s. Along those lines, we reviewed Buffett’s holdings and found several more stocks that he might want to consider selling some or all of his stake.

Some of these positions could include ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG), Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) and WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC). There are others, such as his stakes in drug and health care sectors that could have been mentioned, but those big directional bets may have to wait until after health care reform is enacted. As you will see, we listed the reasons that Buffett should or could cut the stakes.

On the Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) model, the new regulation is going to create a crippling impact on its business. Being paid by a company or a municipality to analyze and rate that same entity is a conflict of interest. That is what penny stocks have gotten in trouble for time and again. New regulation is going to keep these firms from doing some of the added consulting business, and that is going to bite down on these ratings agencies. And missing the whole mortgage blow-up? Moody’s can’t exactly call a do-over and it cannot claim they were misled by every aspect of the chain when they handed out all those Triple-A ratings for some of the junkiest classes of CDO’s and other securitizations. Frankly, the only positive development here is that Moody’s and the other ratings agencies were not abolished. They still have relevance, but they arguably have a much smaller revenue stream on the surface. So we wanted to apply some of the significant changes in industries and companies that Buffett holds inside Berkshire Hathaway to see which companies Buffett should clip down. The writing was on the wall for so long that shares fell by more than two-thirds in less than 18 months. We think Buffett will be taking this stake down considerably.

Based upon the market of late, share prices alone cannot be the only yardstick used to measure these. Particularly since Buffett believes you want to be greedy when everyone is fearful. These stake sales could even raise capital if Berkshire needs it. With all the calls for a second stimulus package, we took this as a signal that Buffett was guiding down operational forecasts for what to expect inside his operating companies and in many of his holdings.

The first and most likely position Buffett could cut is ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). We already noted in his last report of full holdings that Conoco is really lower than the 71.228 million reported. Buffett even came out and said he made a huge mistake and this stock was going to be used for cutting taxes. To us, the only question comes down to whether the Oracle of Omaha cuts the stake down to under 20 million shares or if he pulls the plug on the entire lot. Frankly, this one does offer significant upside if and when energy prices return to loftier levels and we think Buffett should hold on to the stake. The issue is that he’s already said he’ll probably more of these shares even if they rise. Buffett could still capture another $2 billion in capital here if he just took his stake down to right under 20 million shares.

Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG) has been a fluke of a stock for Berkshire. Buffett won this as a poker game collateral pledge after Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy tried to buy Constellation. It received about 20 million shares in the break-up as a deal termination fee after Constellation went with a rival deal from EDF from France in a joint venture instead. Buffett has already cut this, and we saw filings showing this was a smaller stake of about 12.4 million shares rather than the 14.8+ million as of the last filing date. In the Constellation stake, Buffett could bring in roughly $365 million in new cash.

Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) are in the same boat. Buffett made a media bet and he has been riding a horse than cannot or has not been able to fight the tide. He has even panned newspapers and some traditional media in an interview as having a model that is on a race to zero. If this is true then the only question is why Buffett has stuck with these. It is not as though Buffett needs them to stay friendly to Berkshire Hathaway. On the Gannett stake, that is 3.447 million shares that would fetch some $20.3 million today. Frankly, that small of a stake is not worth his time even if he thinks media is coming back. The Washington Post stake is more interesting because it has held up better than most in media because it has education sales rather than just pure media. Berkshire entities hold over 1.72 million shares, so this could raise almost $700 million. While we list this here as ones that Buffett could sell, the old guy might have a change of heart and buy more while these are at basement prices. With Buffett owning Business Wire, does he need the content side when he owns the premiere distribution side? The estimated intake from these two today would bring in $720-ish million in cash.

The 6.71 million shares of M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) listed under Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings is one that M&T’s management probably does not appreciate us calling out as a sell-candidate for Mr. Buffett. In fact, we have no call against M&T personally nor do we have anything against it today even as a stock on a standalone basis. The problem here is that Buffett’s circa-$390 million value in this holding is dwarfed by a $7.25 billion stake in Wells Fargo. With his other banking and financial holdings, Buffett’s need for this one is not apparent. We have heard Buffett talk about Wells Fargo over and over as a great bank but have not heard a peep about M&T in any recent years. Add in his recent deal with Goldman Sachs, and that will leave you with Buffett’s new model in investing in financial institutions. The sale of this stake would allow Buffett to bring in close to $390 million.

WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) is still a 2.7 million share stake. The company is tied to autos, but not entirely tied to the US-auto sector. It is primarily in safety and control systems for commercial vehicles, particularly on breaking systems. The market cap is a mere $1.3 billion, so the question to ask is just how much Buffett and friends can pocket here even if this is the Holy Grail in the commercial auto parts sector. This “Berkshire Sell” notion is not tied to the auto sector, but we just don’t see how this stake is worth Mr. Buffett’s time or effort. If he wants to have exposure in various aspects of the auto sector, he could go into one of the larger government-backed or one of the other players and invest higher in the capital structure. If Buffett were to cut this one out of his portfolio, he’d bring in roughly $54 million in cash.

Let’s pretend Buffett unloaded all of these positions. The tally in just these positions would raise close to $3.5 billion in cash. Some of these positions are essentially legacy positions. Buffett has also been going higher up into the capital structure in many of his recent investments so he is above the common stock holders. He could immediately use the funds to buy more of some other smaller holdings he would like to add to. Or he could add it into the till for that “whale of a deal” he had previously telegraphed that he would like to pursue.

You can always join our open email distribution list to get reminders about Buffett, IPO’s, mergers, secondary offerings, daily analyst calls and more. As always, here is the full list of Buffett holdings. We expect that to change in roughly three weeks.

Jon C. Ogg
July 27, 2009

Posted in Active Trader, Activist Investor, Buffett, Insider Activity, Value Investing Tagged: BRK-A, CEG, COP, GCI, MCO, MTB, WBC, WPO

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q1-2009 Holdings P to Z (BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:02:29 +0000

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) holdings for the first quarter of 2009 are now out for the cut off date here of March 31, 2009. There are some changes from the end of Q4 here in banking and here is the list of stocks alphabetically ‘P to Z.’

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, same as before.
Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, looks same as before.
Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; ABOVE last quarter’s 67.6 million.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 4.5 million; down from over 6 million.
Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, above our 8.9 million noted before.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares, same as before.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares, same as before.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) over 302 million; ABOVE the 290+ million shares the quarter before.
Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.7773 million shares, same as before.
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “A to F”
Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “G to O”

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2009

Posted in Active Trader, Activist Investor, Banking, Banking & Finance, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, ETFs & Mutual Funds, Industrials, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, Value Investing Tagged: BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, UNH, UNP, UPS, USB, USG, WBC, WFC, WLP, WMT, WPO, WSC