Investment company Berkshire Hathaway, which is headed by legendary investor Warren Buffett, completely got rid of a major position in the telecom sector last quarter. In addition, Berkshire cut stakes in a number of well-known corporations, including one of its longest-standing investments, Apple.

Details

On August 14, Berkshire Hathaway published reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Form 13F, in which it reflected key permutations in its portfolio. The main event in the second quarter was the purchase of more than 5 million shares of UnitedHealth Group for about $1.6 billion.

At the same time Warren Buffett also actively sold shares, writes Barron's. Thus, Berkshire reduced its stakes in the following companies (in order of stake reduction):

- Telecommunications giant T-Mobile. Berkshire has completely exited this position by selling all 3.8 million shares it owns.

- Charter Communications, a telecommunications and media company. Berkhsire's stake was cut almost in half to about 1 million shares.

- Liberty Formula One Media Company. Decreased positions by about 14.1% (about 4.6 million shares).

- Apple Technological Corp. Berkshire sold about 20 million securities of the iPhone manufacturer for about $4 billion. Now Buffett's company is left with 280 million shares of Apple with a total value of $65 billion.

- Bank of America bank holding company. Berkshire continued to sell securities of one of the main banks of the USA. The share decreased by -4.2%: Berkshire sold about 26 million shares and now owns 605 million securities worth $28 million.

- Medical company DaVita - down -3.8% (about 1.6 million shares).

What else has come to light from the reporting

Berkshire's acquisitions in the second quarter included both new positions - Allegion and Lamar Advertising- and building stakes in construction companies Lennar and D.R. Horton and steelmaker Nucor. Horton and steelmaker Nucor. Berkshire also slightly increased stakes in Chevron, Domino's Pizza, Pool and Constellation Brands, beer maker Modelo and Corona, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The main surprise for investors in Berkshire's disclosure was struggling insurer UnitedHealth, whose shares have fallen by half since the beginning of the year. Berkshire bought more than 5 million securities of stagnant insurer UnitedHealth for about $1.6 billion in the second quarter.

However, in the second quarter, the conglomerate was still more of a seller: it sold $6.92 billion worth of shares while buying $3.9 billion. The amount of cash and cash equivalents rose to a record $344 billion, but the company did not buy back its own shares.

Context

At the end of 2025 Warren Buffett plans to hand over the post of CEO of Berkshire Hathaway to his longtime deputy Greg Abel, retaining his position as chairman of the board of directors. Buffett has led the company for more than half a century, transforming it from a textile manufacturer into one of the world's largest investment conglomerates, Reuters notes.

Amid expectations of management changes and portfolio realignment, Berkshire's Class B shares have fallen about 5% since the beginning of the year from their recent highs, posting gains of just 5.7% versus 10% for the S&P 500 index. Investors are wary of the impending management changes and are trying to gauge how they will affect the company's strategy.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

Share