As it places bets on oil, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchases more of Apple and Amazon.
All of Berkshire Hathaway’s investments for the second quarter were described in a new Securities and Exchange Commission report on Monday.
OMAH, NEBRASKA During the second quarter, Warren Buffett’s company increased its bets on e-commerce behemoth Amazon and high-tech darling Apple while also spending enormous sums on traditional oil companies Occidental Petroleum and Chevron.
Berkshire In a fresh filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Hathaway provided full disclosure of all of its second-quarter investments. Because of Buffett’s extremely successful track record throughout the years, Wall Street pays close attention to Berkshire’s investments.
Because the size of the investment needed more frequent updates, Berkshire had previously reported its largest move of the quarter, a $1.4 billion investment in the oil producer Occidental Petroleum. After completing multiple further purchases since the quarter ended on June 30, Berkshire now controls more than 20% of Occidental and has Occidental stock valued at more than $11 billion.
However, Monday’s filing disclosed several less significant actions Berkshire took during the second quarter, including increasing its positions in several firms, including Apple, Amazon, Chevron, Ally Financial, Activision Blizzard, and Paramount Global. In addition, Berkshire reduced its stakes in the equities of US Bancorp, Kroger, and General Motors while selling its investment in Verizon Communications.
Berkshire was active in the second quarter, but not quite as much as it was in the first three months of the year when it invested $51 billion in a variety of stocks.
With the addition of nearly 4 million more Apple shares during the quarter, Berkshire now owns 894.8 million shares of the iPhone manufacturer, making it its largest single purchase to date.
Buffett typically manages all of Berkshire’s larger investments worth more than $1 billion, including the company’s significant holdings in Apple, Bank of America, American Express, and Coca-Cola stocks. However, Monday’s filing does not make it clear which investments Buffett handled and which ones were made by the two other investment managers. Officials from Berkshire rarely offer comments on these periodic filings.
In addition to investments, the Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire owns a total of over 90 businesses altogether, including the BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, many significant utilities, and a diverse range of manufacturing and retail businesses like Dairy Queen and Precision Castparts.
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter
