Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) has released its public equity holdings as of June 30, 2016. What makes this so interesting for Warren Buffett fans, outside of Buffett being one of the richest men alive, is that there have been many key changes in the Buffett stocks over the past few quarters. The Berkshire Hathaway earnings report in recent weeks showed that the total equity securities listed on the balance sheet was $102.563 billion, while the 13F filing with the SEC showed the balance as of June 30 as being $129.7 billion.
24/7 Wall St. and its founders have followed the portfolio changes from Buffett’s top stock holdings for about two decades now. We track the changes made each quarter, and ultimately these end up being quite different through time. Buffett’s addition of two more portfolio managers in recent years only makes the changes look even more extreme over time.
Investors need to keep in mind that approximately 61% of the aggregate fair value of the common equity securities is concentrated in four companies: Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) at $23.7 billion, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) at $12.3 billion, Coca-Cola Co. at $18.1 billion and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) at $9.2 billion.
Again, big changes have been made. Buffett also has large stakes in food-giant Kraft Heinz Co. (NYSE: KHC) and refining giant Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), and the March quarter showed a new $1 billion stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Berkshire Hathaway also ended the June 2016 quarter with almost $72.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents. That figure is from a total of insurance and other, railroad utilities and energy, and finance and financial products.
Here is how the new list of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway’s public share holding looks as of June 30, 2016.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was the same 151.6 million or so shares, a position that remains perpetually static whether shares rise or fall. Buffett has owned Amex for so long it may be cheaper for him to just hold rather than pay gains.
Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was the exact same stake of 400 million shares, a position that has also remained static for years. Buffett has defended his stake here for years.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was listed as the same 81.232 million shares in June as it was in March. Still, this Big Blue stake has been raised and raised. It was 81.03 million shares as of last December 31, about 79.5 million shares as of the end of last June, and the end of 2014 position was 76.971 million IBM shares.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is a position that Buffett might add to for infinity. The June 30 stake was listed as the same 479.704 million shares listed in March. This was 470.29 million shares last September, and again it just keeps being raised. As a reminder, it was documented that Buffett has filed to be allowed to increase his stake north of the 10% threshold with the SEC. With Wells Fargo being a serial acquirer of its own stock, Buffett might end up owning more than 10% of the stock even without trying.
Kraft Heinz Co. (NYSE: KHC) was listed as 325,634,818 shares, the same stake it was on March 31 and at the end of 2015. This stake is from the 3G Capital deal and is actually more important than it seems. Buffett had suggested that his exposure would be coming down due to his preferred shares being redeemed. The earnings report in recent weeks confirmed that. The value here as of June 30 was $28.8 billion.
Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was an INCREASED STAKE to 78.782 million shares as of June 30. As of March 31, it was a 75.55 million share stake and this has risen steadily. This stake previously had been classified as an elimination in 2015 and then was shown after Buffett got the stake classified with the SEC as confidential.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was an INCREASED STAKE to 15.227 million shares as of June 30, worth some $1.455 billion. The stake in Apple was a new position back in the March quarter, listed as 9,811,747 shares worth some $1.069 billion at that time.