Warren Buffett, the legendary investor at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B), has a reputation for generating substantial value for shareholders. His approach often involves buying entire companies, but he also takes large stakes in publicly traded firms when he identifies compelling opportunities.
A Look at Buffett’s Investment Philosophy
Buffett is a proponent of value investing, seeking out companies with strong fundamentals, durable competitive advantages, and skilled management. He typically holds these investments for the long term, demonstrating his belief in the power of compounding rather than trying to predict market fluctuations.
This value-based approach involves determining a company’s intrinsic worth and then purchasing its stock at a significant discount. For example, if Buffett values a stock at $100 per share but only buys at $65, the $35 difference acts as a buffer, reducing risk and increasing potential gains. This strategy is often employed during market downturns when share prices are temporarily depressed.
Berkshire Hathaway Holdings
Berkshire Hathaway’s top stock holdings, as reported in the latest 13F filing, include:
| Company Name | Symbol | Holdings | Stake | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ally Financial Inc | ALLY | 29,000,000 | 9.5% | $985,710,000 |
| Amazon.com Inc | AMZN | 10,000,000 | 0.1% | $1,938,800,000 |
| American Express Company | AXP | 151,610,700 | 21.3% | $40,525,540,110 |
| Aon PLC | AON | 4,100,000 | 1.9% | $1,428,932,000 |
| Apple Inc | AAPL | 400,000,000 | 2.6% | $90,588,000,000 |
| Atlanta Braves Holdings Inc Series C | BATRK | 223,645 | 0.4% | $9,149,317 |
| Bank of America Corp | BAC | 835,908,435 | 10.8% | $33,327,669,303 |
| BYD Co. Ltd | BYDDF | 54,200,142 | 4.9% | $1,681,830,406 |
| Capital One Financial Corp. | COF | 9,819,052 | 2.6% | $1,485,131,615 |
| Charter Communications Inc | CHTR | 3,828,941 | 2.7% | $1,269,753,414 |
| Chevron Corp | CVX | 118,610,534 | 6.5% | $17,499,798,186 |
| Chubb Ltd | CB | 27,033,784 | 6.7% | $7,896,838,644 |
| Citigroup Inc | C | 55,244,797 | 2.9% | $3,457,219,396 |
| Coca-Cola Co | KO | 400,000,000 | 9.3% | $28,692,000,000 |
| Davita Inc | DVA | 36,095,570 | 43.0% | $5,832,322,201 |
| Diageo plc | DEO | 227,750 | 0.0% | $30,880,623 |
| Floor & Decor Holdings Inc | FND | 3,977,870 | 3.7% | $476,310,154 |
| Heico Corp Class A | HEI.A | 1,044,242 | 1.2% | $218,027,287 |
| Itochu Corporation | 8001:TYO | 118,331,800 | 7.5% | $6,355,622,940 |
| Jefferies Financial Group Inc | JEF | 433,558 | 0.2% | $26,906,609 |
| Kraft Heinz Co | KHC | 325,634,818 | 26.9% | $11,293,015,488 |
| Kroger Co | KR | 50,000,000 | 6.9% | $2,807,000,000 |
| Lennar Corp Class B | LEN.B | 152,572 | 0.5% | $26,002,846 |
| Liberty Latin America Series A | LILA | 2,630,792 | 6.5% | $25,045,140 |
| Liberty Latin America Series C | LILAK | 1,284,020 | 0.8% | $12,108,309 |
| Liberty Formula One Series C | FWONK | 7,722,451 | 3.5% | $595,555,421 |
| Liberty Live Series A | LLYVA | 4,986,588 | 19.5% | $211,780,392 |
| Liberty Live Series C | LLYVK | 10,917,661 | 17.2% | $472,843,898 |
| Louisiana-Pacific Corp | LPX | 5,964,793 | 8.5% | $635,071,511 |
| Marubeni Corp | 8002:TYO | 141,000,200 | 8.4% | $2,285,220,021 |
| Mastercard Inc | MA | 3,986,648 | 0.4% | $1,981,922,187 |
| Mitsubishi Corp | 8058:TYO | 358,492,800 | 8.6% | $7,347,716,323 |
| Mitsui & Co | 8031:TYO | 250,044,600 | 8.3% | $5,364,706,093 |
| Moody’s Corp | MCO | 24,669,778 | 13.5% | $11,816,823,662 |
| Nu Holdings Ltd | NU | 107,118,784 | 2.2% | $1,573,574,937 |
| NVR Inc | NVR | 11,112 | 0.4% | $107,872,074 |
| Occidental Petroleum Corp | OXY | 255,281,524 | 27.3% | $13,335,906,814 |
| Sirius XM Holdings Inc | SIRI | 105,155,029 | 31.0% | $2,691,968,742 |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | SPY | 39,400 | 0.0% | $22,444,998 |
| Sumitomo Corp | 8053:TYO | 101,210,400 | 8.4% | $2,287,784,982 |
| T-Mobile Us Inc | TMUS | 4,672,000 | 0.4% | $945,893,120 |
| Ulta Beauty Inc | ULTA | 690,106 | 1.5% | $271,791,347 |
| Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | VOO | 43,000 | 0.0% | $22,582,310 |
| VeriSign, Inc | VRSN | 12,815,613 | 13.1% | $2,339,490,153 |
| Visa Inc | V | 8,297,460 | 0.4% | $2,394,895,880 |
| TOTAL | $314,595,458,854 |
Holdings are from Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing.
Recent Portfolio Adjustments
Berkshire Hathaway has made several notable changes to its portfolio recently. The company sold over 100 million shares of Bank of America, reducing its stake significantly. It also trimmed its position in Apple by 389 million shares and exited investments in Paramount Global and Snowflake. Additionally, there were reductions in Chevron, Capital One Financial, and T-Mobile.
Despite these reductions, Berkshire increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum, now holding more than 25% of the company. It also established new positions in Ulta Beauty and Heico, an aerospace parts supplier, reflecting confidence in their growth prospects.
Why Warren Buffett’s Approach is Unique
Buffett’s investment strategy is built on simplicity and patience. Since taking charge of Berkshire Hathaway at the age of 35, he has transformed it from a struggling textile business into a diversified powerhouse valued at nearly $1 trillion. His method involves buying high-quality companies at reasonable prices and holding them for the long term, allowing the power of compounding to drive returns.
From 1965 to 2023, Berkshire Hathaway achieved an annual growth rate of 19.8%, nearly double the S&P 500’s 10.2% average. This consistent outperformance underscores Buffett’s belief that long-term investing in solid companies can yield superior results without the need for frequent trading or market timing.
At last our intention from this article isn’t about buying any stock or copying any portfolio, this article is all about the knowledge and learning.
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