Showing posts with label Berkshire Hathaway's Public Company Holdings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Berkshire Hathaway's Public Company Holdings. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Berkshire's common stock investments

Investments

Below we show our common stock investments that at year end had a market value of more than $1 billion.

12/31/09

Shares
Company
Percentage of Company Owned
Cost *
Market
(in millions)

151,610,700
American Express Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.7
$ 1,287
$ 6,143

225,000,000
BYD Company, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.9
232
1,986

200,000,000
The Coca-Cola Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.6
1,299
11,400

37,711,330
ConocoPhillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5
2,741
1,926

28,530,467
Johnson & Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.0
1,724
1,838

130,272,500
Kraft Foods Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.8
4,330
3,541

3,947,554
POSCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2
768
2,092

83,128,411
The Procter & Gamble Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.9
533
5,040

25,108,967
Sanofi-Aventis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.9
2,027
1,979

234,247,373
Tesco plc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.0
1,367
1,620

76,633,426
U.S. Bancorp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.0
2,371
1,725

39,037,142
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.0
1,893
2,087

334,235,585
Wells Fargo & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.5
7,394
9,021

Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6,680
8,636

Total Common Stocks Carried at Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$34,646
$59,034

*This is our actual purchase price and also our tax basis; GAAP “cost” differs in a few cases because of write-ups or write-downs that have been required.

In addition, we own positions in non-traded securities of Dow Chemical, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Swiss Re and Wrigley with an aggregate cost of $21.1 billion and a carrying value of $26.0 billion. We purchased these five positions in the last 18 months. Setting aside the significant equity potential they provide us, these holdings deliver us an aggregate of $2.1 billion annually in dividends and interest. Finally, we owned 76,777,029 shares (22.5%) of BNSF at year end, which we then carried at $85.78 per share, but which have subsequently been melded into our purchase of the entire company.

In 2009, our largest sales were in ConocoPhillips, Moody’s, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson(sales of the latter occurring after we had built our position earlier in the year). Charlie and I believe that all of these stocks will likely trade higher in the future. We made some sales early in 2009 to raise cash for our Dow and Swiss Re purchases and late in the year made other sales in anticipation of our BNSF purchase.

We told you last year that very unusual conditions then existed in the corporate and municipal bond markets and that these securities were ridiculously cheap relative to U.S. Treasuries. We backed this view with some purchases, but I should have done far more. Big opportunities come infrequently. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.

We entered 2008 with $44.3 billion of cash-equivalents, and we have since retained operating earnings of $17 billion. Nevertheless, at year end 2009, our cash was down to $30.6 billion (with $8 billion earmarked for the BNSF acquisition). We’ve put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. It’s been an ideal period for investors: A climate of fear is their best friend. Those who invest only when commentators are upbeat end up paying a heavy price for meaningless reassurance. In the end, what counts in investing is what you pay for a business – through the purchase of a small piece of it in the stock market – and what that business earns in the succeeding decade or two.

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2009ltr.pdf
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Saturday, 21 February 2009

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Johnson & Johnson Stake By Half



Tuesday, 17 Feb 2009
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Johnson & Johnson Stake By Half

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has just released its fourth quarter stock portfolio snapshot.
Instead of asking what Buffett has been buying, we should have been wondering what Buffett has been selling.
Most notably, Berkshire slashed its holdings in Johnson and Johnson to just 28.6 million shares as of December 31. That's a drop of almost 54 percent. It had reported holding 61.8 million shares as of the end of the third quarter on September 30.
That brings Berkshire's stake in J&J down to just under 4 percent from almost 8 percent.

Johnson and Johnson's shares price fell almost 18 percent during the fourth quarter. We don't know whether Buffett avoided any or all of that drop since the filing doesn't say when the shares were sold. We do know that the stock is down another 6.4 percent year-to-date, a drop that Berkshire has avoided on the 33.2 million shares sold. Based on their December 31 close, those 33 million shares were worth about $2 billion.

Berkshire also made a sizable cut in its holdings of another healthcare company, Procter & Gamble [PG 50.25 -0.88 (-1.72%) ]. That stake fell 9 percent to 96.3 million shares from 105.8 million.

Berkshire's smaller cuts in Q4:

ConocoPhillips [COP 39.44 -2.35 (-5.62%) ] fell 4.8 percent to 79.9 million shares

CarMax [KMX 8.73 0.10 (+1.16%) ] dropped 4.4 percent to 17.6 million shares

US Bancorp [USB 10.58 -0.30 (-2.76%) ] reduced by 7.4 percent to 67.6 million shares

Buffett wasn't just selling in the fourth quarter. Berkshire increased these holdings:

NRG Energy [IR 15.83 -0.22 (-1.37%) ] soared 44 percent to 7.2 million shares

Ingersoll-Rand [IR 15.83 -0.22 (-1.37%) ] increased by 38.1 percent to 7.8 million shares

Eaton [ETN 40.28 -0.44 (-1.08%) ] jumped by 10 percent to 3.2 million shares


And there's one new stake: about 8.7 million shares of Nalco Holding. [NLC 11.31 -0.29 (-2.5%) ]

On its web site, the company describes itself as "the leading integrated water treatment and process improvement company in the world."

At today's closing price of $11.06, the Nalco stake is worth just $96 million. (The stock is getting a 6 percent boost in after-hours trading.)

And Buffett is holding tight on his big financial holdings, including stakes in American Express [AXP 12.97 0.10 (+0.78%) ] and Wells Fargo [WFC 10.91 -1.10 (-9.16%) ].

Overall, the dollar value of Berkshire's disclosed stock portfolio fell 25.8 percent to just under $52 billion as of December 31, down from almost $70 billion on September 30.
Our Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker shows the portfolio holdings as of December 31 are worth $41.4 billion, using today's closing prices
So what happened to Buffett's high-profile call last October to buy U.S. stocks?
He said then he was buying domestic equities for his personal account. Apparently he felt Berkshire's money could be put to better use elsewhere. One alternative we know about are Berkshire high-interest rate loans to well-known companies facing tough times, such as Tiffany, Swiss Re, Harley-Davidson, Goldman Sachs, and General Electric.
Bloomberg quotes Buffett-style investor Mohnish Pabrai as saying before the portfolio filing, "Buffett has shown a preference over the past couple years toward buying whole companies, the debt markets or other private deals."
That's certainly evident in today's filing.

Here are the details from tonight's Berkshire Hathaway portfolio snapshot as of December 31, compared to the filing for September 30.

ADDED STAKES
Constellation Energy added at 19,894,322 shares. Berkshire obtained these shares in mid-December as part of its break-up fee after Constellation agreed to be acquired by Électricitié de France and canceled its tentative deal with Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings. Subsequent filings show that Berkshire sold over five million shares in January and early February, bringing its holdings down to 14,831,107 shares as of February 6.
[CEG 21.60 -1.22 (-5.35%) ]

Nalco Holding added at 8,739,100 shares.
[NLC 11.31 -0.29 (-2.5%) ]


INCREASED STAKES

Burlington Northern increased 9.9% to 70,089,829 shares from 63,785,418 shares.
(Berkshire reported holding 76,777,029 shares as of January 30.)
[BNI 61.84 0.07 (+0.11%) ]

Eaton Corp. stake increased 10.0% to 3,200,000 shares from 2,908,700 shares. Eaton was a new holding as of the end of the third quarter.
[ETN 40.28 -0.44 (-1.08%) ]

Ingersoll-Rand stake increased 38.1% to 7,782,600 shares from 5,636,600 shares.
[IR 15.83 -0.22 (-1.37%) ]

NRG Energy stake increased 44.0% to 7,200,000 shares from 5,000,000 shares. The stake was also up in the third quarter, increasing by 54.4%.
[NRG 19.80 -0.12 (-0.6%) ]


DECREASED STAKES

Carmax stake decreased 4.4% to 17,636,500 shares from 18,444,100 shares from 21,300,000 shares.
[KMX 8.73 0.10 (+1.16%) ]

ConocoPhillips stake decreased 4.8% to 79,896,273 shares from 59,688,000 shares.
[COP 39.44 -2.35 (-5.62%) ]

Johnson & Johnson stake decreased 53.7% to 28,611,591 shares from 61,754,448 shares.
[JNJ 54.65 -1.28 (-2.29%) ]

Procter & Gamble stake decreased 9.0% to 9,530,990 shares from 105,847,000 shares.
[PG 50.25 -0.88 (-1.72%) ]

US Bancorp stake decreased 7.4% to 67,551,426 shares from 72,937,126 shares. [USB 10.58 -0.30 (-2.76%) ]

UnitedHealth Group stake decreased 1.3% to 6,300,000 shares from 6,379,900 shares. [UNH 27.98 -0.67 (-2.34%) ]

Wells Fargo stake decreased 0.1% to 290,244,868 shares from 290,407,668 shares. [WFC 10.91 -1.10 (-9.16%) ]


UNCHANGED STAKES

American Express unchanged at 151,610,700 shares.
[AXP 12.97 0.10 (+0.78%) ]

Bank of America unchanged at 5,000,000 shares. The stake had dropped 45.1% in the third quarter.
[BAC 3.79 -0.14 (-3.56%) ]

Coca-Cola unchanged at 200,000,000 shares.
[KO 42.84 -0.46 (-1.06%) ]

Comcast unchanged at 12,000,000 shares.
[CMCSA 12.84 -0.15 (-1.15%) ]

Comdisco unchanged at 1,538,377 shares.
[CDCO 7.60 0.10 (+1.33%) ]

Costco Wholesale unchanged at 5,254,000 shares.
[COST 42.76 0.14 (+0.33%) ]

Gannett unchanged at 3,447,600 shares.
[GCI 3.70 -0.16 (-4.15%) ]

General Electric unchanged at 7,777,900 shares.
[GE 9.38 -0.68 (-6.76%) ]

GlaxoSmithKline unchanged at 1,510,500 shares.
[GSK 32.55 -0.77 (-2.31%) ]

Home Depot unchanged at 3,700,000 shares.
[HD 19.46 -0.70 (-3.47%) ]

Iron Mountain unchanged at 3,372,200 shares.
[IRM 19.89 0.07 (+0.35%) ]

Kraft Foods unchanged at 138,272,500 shares.
[KFT 23.51 -0.82 (-3.37%) ]

Lowes Companies unchanged at 6,500,000 shares.
[LOW 15.86 -1.12 (-6.6%) ]

M&T Bank unchanged at 6,715,060 shares.
[MTB 35.10 1.80 (+5.41%) ]

Moody's unchanged at 48,000,000 shares.
[MCO 19.16 -2.91 (-13.19%) ]

Nike unchanged at 7,641,000 shares.
[NKE 42.93 0.12 (+0.28%) ]

Norfolk Southern unchanged at 1,933,000 shares.
[NSC 33.97 -0.07 (-0.21%) ]

Sanofi Aventis unchanged at 3,903,933 shares.
[SNY 28.25 -0.58 (-2.01%) ]

SunTrust Banks unchanged at 3,204,600 shares.
[STI 7.35 0.65 (+9.7%) ]

Torchmark unchanged at 2,823,879 shares.
[TMK 22.07 -2.86 (-11.47%) ]

USG unchanged at 17,072,192 shares.
[USG 5.63 -0.25 (-4.25%) ]

Union Pacific unchanged at 8,906,000 shares.
[UNP 40.03 0.80 (+2.04%) ]

United Parcel Service unchanged at 1,429,200 shares.
[UPS 42.80 -0.13 (-0.3%) ]

Wabco Holdings unchanged at 2,700,000 shares.
[WBC 10.66 -0.21 (-1.93%) ]

Wal-Mart Stores unchanged at 19,944,300 shares.
[WMT 50.02 -0.43 (-0.85%) ]

Washington Post unchanged at 1,727,765 shares.
[WPO 390.30 -1.20 (-0.31%) ]

Wellpoint stake unchanged at 4,777,300 shares.
[WLP 41.45 0.19 (+0.46%) ]

Wesco Financial unchanged at 5,703,087 shares.
[WSC 265.00 -5.00 (-1.85%) ]

Current Berkshire stock prices:

Class A: [US;BRK.A 77000.0 -1600.00 (-2.04%) ]

Class B: [US;BRK.B 2387.0 -129.50 (-5.15%) ]

For more Buffett Watch updates follow alexcrippen on Twitter.


© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29242870
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Sunday, 30 November 2008

The Master: Warren Buffett 8

Smaller Slices

Buffett doesn't always buy the whole company,
  • for either it is too big, or
  • he simply wants to take a position without a complete commitment.

Needless to say, the list of 42 holdings in publicly traded companies as of March 2007 is instructive.

Buffett Public Company Holdings

Company--Business/Sector--Estimated 2007 P/E
Ameriprise Financial--Financial services--14.1
American Standard--Building products--10.6
USG Corporation--Building products--24.7
Norfolk Southern--Railroad--12.8
Comcast Corporation--Cable, communications--32.7
PetroChina ADRs--International energy-- ..
Gannett Corp--Newspapers--10.0
Burlington Northern--Railroad--15.0
Tyco International--Diversified--21.7
Ingersoll-Rand--Industrial--13.9
ConocoPhillips--Energy--8.2
SunTrustBanks--Financial services--13.0
H&R Block--Financial services--14.8
Home Depot--Retail--14.7
UnitedHealthGroup--Healthcare--13.4
American Express--Financial services--16.9
Nike Inc.--Consumer apparel--16.2
Torchmark Corp--Financial services--11.1
Moody's Corp--Financial services--20.8
M&T Bank--Financial services--13.6
Pier 1 Imports--Retail--..
Union Pacific--Railroad--16.8
USBancorp--Financial services--11.2
Lowe's Corp--Retail--13.9
WellPoint Inc--Healthcare--13.7
General Electric--Diversified--17.3
First Data Corp--Info services--24.4
Sanofi-Aventis ADR--Pharmaceuticals--11.3
Comdisco Holdings--Industrial--..
Wal-Mart Stores--Retail--14.5
Western Unin--Technology services--18.1
Anheuser-Busch--Consumer beverages--17.2
Wells-Fargo--Financial services--12.6
Wesco Financial--Financial services--78.8
Johnson & Johnson--Healthcare--15.1
United Parcel Service--Logistics--18.5
Costco Wholesale--Retail--24.8
Washington Post--Newspapers--26.7
Coca-Cola Co.--Consumer beverages--21.1
Procter & Gamble--Diversified consumer--18.9
Iron Mountain--Technology security--40.1


Check this out:
SEC 13F filings contain the disclosures as statements of change of ownership. You can find these 13 Fs yourself simply by doing a search on Berkshire Hathaway 13F and the year you're interested in.
http://www.hoovers.com/free/co/secdoc.xhtml?ID=10206&ipage=6253178

Also visit:
The Master: Warren Buffett 9 (9/9)
The Master: Warren Buffett 8
The Master: Warren Buffett 7
The Master: Warren Buffett 6
The Master: Warren Buffett 5
The Master: Warren Buffett 4
The Master: Warren Buffett 3
The Master: Warren Buffett 2
The Master: Warren Buffett 1

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