Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold off 10 million Apple stocks in the last three months of 2023 representing about 1.1 percent of Berkshire’s holding in the tech giant company. According to the firm’s 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, they also reduced their position in HP and Paramount Global by about 80 million and 30 million shares respectively. Berkshire, however, still holds more than 905 million shares of Apple, roughly 23 million shares of HP and about 63 million shares of Paramount Global.
During the last three months of 2023, Berkshire made three major additions to its pre-existing position of energy stocks. The company added 16 million shares of Chevron and another 19 million shares of Occidental Petroleum to its previous holdings. They also bought up 30 million additional shares of Sirius XM, almost quadrupling its position.
‘Apple’ has become a major holding for Berkshire’s portfolio. Even after reducing its quantity, the tech giant is still considered among one of the ‘four giants’ – along with its railroad, insurance, and energy operations – that drives most of Berkshire’s value. The Omaha-based conglomerate still possesses more than 905 million shares of Apple, worth about $174 billion, representing 6 percent of all Apple shares and one-fifth of Berkshire’s entire portfolio.
Berkshire, since the beginning of its investment in Apple stock in 2016, first sold off about $11 billion worth of shares in the second half of 2020. Buffett later admitted in a shareholder meeting that the sale-off decision was “probably a mistake”. Buffett used to praise Apple CEO Tom Cook as “One of the best managers in the world”. Berkshire Hathaway bought up an additional quantity of Apple stock worth about $31 billion in 2022.
Berkshire completely exited from four stocks in the last quarter of 2023. They sold off nearly 11 million shares of financial services company StoneCo and nearly 6 million shares of home construction firm D.R. Horton. These sell-offs were the largest among all. They fully quit two other insurance-sector stocks Globe Life and Markel.
Warren Buffett, 93, is well known for his long-term “Buy and Hold” approach to investing, but he hasn’t taken any new positions throughout the last three months in 2023.