Berkshire sheds General Motors, Procter & Gamble as it builds cash (updated)

Markel

15/11/2023 03:38

(Adds details from filing, background, byline)
    By Jonathan Stempel
       Nov 14 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway  BRKa.N  said on
Tuesday it has shed its holdings in General Motors  GM.N  and
Procter & Gamble  PG.N , and trimmed its stake in Amazon.com
 AMZN.O , as the conglomerate controlled by billionaire Warren
Buffett boosted its cash pile to a record $157.2 billion.
        In a regulatory filing detailing its U.S.-listed stock
holdings as of Sept. 30, Berkshire reported no holdings in GM
and P&G, after reporting stakes of $848 million and $48 million
in June, and said it reduced its stake in Amazon by 5%.
    Berkshire also appeared to have shed what had been a $621
million stake in Celanese  CE.N , a specialty materials company.
    One new position was an $8 million stake in Atlanta Braves
Holdings  BATRA.O , which indirectly controls the Major League
Baseball team and The Battery Atlanta, a mixed-use development
next to the Braves' Truist Park.
    The Braves had been split off from Liberty Media  LBYTA.O ,
another Berkshire investment, in July.
        Tuesday's filing detailed investments that comprised
most of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire's equity portfolio,
which totaled $318.6 billion as of Sept. 30.
    Berkshire sold $7 billion of stocks, including some of its
big investment in Chevron  CVX.N , and bought just $1.7 billion
in the third quarter, a down period for its stock holdings led
by Apple  AAPL.O , whose share price fell 12%.
        For all of 2023, Berkshire has sold $23.6 billion more
stocks than it has bought.
     The net sales contributed to Berkshire's record cash stake,
which is about the same size as its $156.8 billion stake in
iPhone maker Apple  AAPL.O .
    Berkshire's filing does not say which investments are
Buffett's, which are from his portfolio managers Todd Combs and
Ted Weschler, and why the investments were made.
    Larger investments are normally Buffett's, and investors
often try to piggyback on Berkshire's trading, reflecting
Buffett's reputation as one of the world's greatest investors.
    To that end, Berkshire decided not to disclose one or more
of its holdings, and said it has asked the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission for confidential treatment.
    Berkshire has occasionally requested such treatment for
major investments, including multi-billion-dollar stakes in IBM
 IBM.N  and Exxon Mobil  XOM.N  more than a decade ago. Neither
appears to be a current Berkshire investment.
    In other third-quarter sales, Berkshire finished exiting
video game maker Activision Blizzard, which was bought by
Microsoft  MSFT.O  last month, and reduced its holdings in life
insurer Globe Life  GL.N .
    Berkshire also shed about two-thirds of its stake in Markel
Group  MKL.N , a notable change given that some investors have
in recent years viewed the insurance and investment company as a
"mini-Berkshire."
        Buffett, 93, has run Berkshire since 1965.
    His conglomerate also owns dozens of businesses including
the Geico car insurer, BNSF railroad, energy and industrial
companies, and consumer brands such as Benjamin Moore, Dairy
Queen, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by
Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)
 ((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))