Berkshire reduced its holdings in Apple in the first quarter, but it remains the top position in its portfolio, and its mysterious holdings are finally exposed

After three consecutive quarters of secrecy, Berkshire Hathaway finally unveiled the mystery behind its stock holdings in a regulatory filing, announcing a major investment in the insurance company Chubb. In addition, data shows that Berkshire reduced its stake in Apple in the first quarter, but Apple remains the company's top holding. Berkshire's increased weighting in financial stocks exceeds other sectors, with the disclosed investment value dropping by 4.5%.

After the U.S. stock market closed on Wednesday, Berkshire's regulatory filing revealed that since the second half of 2023, Berkshire has been increasing its stake in Chubb. As of the end of March 2024, Berkshire had accumulated nearly 26 million shares of Chubb, with a total holding value of approximately $6.7 billion. This has propelled Chubb to become Berkshire's ninth largest holding as of the end of March. According to Dow Jones market data, Berkshire's stake in Chubb accounts for 6.4% of its total equity.

Following the announcement, Chubb's stock surged over 7% in after-hours trading, with its stock price rising by approximately 12% year-to-date. According to FactSet data, earlier this week, the stock had a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.3 times, while the S&P 500 index had a P/E ratio of 20.6 times, and the average P/E ratio for the financial sector was 15.3 times.

It is understood that the insurance business is one of Berkshire's core businesses, providing the company with a stable source of income and profits. Berkshire has been expanding its insurance business through acquisitions, including acquiring Geico, a leader in the auto insurance market, global reinsurance giant General Re, and several other insurance companies.

Buffett recently wrote to shareholders, stating, "Property and Casualty ('P/C') insurance is the core of Berkshire's happiness and growth." Chubb, headquartered in Zurich, is one of the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance companies. The company is led by Evan Greenberg, son of former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. Chubb recently made headlines as the insurer for the collapsed Baltimore bridge incident.

Previously, Berkshire Hathaway was allowed to keep the specific details of this investment confidential. Even at this month's Buffett shareholder meeting, this topic was not mentioned. In fact, Berkshire rarely applies for confidentiality, with the last time being in 2020 when they purchased shares of Chevron and Verizon.

Many had speculated that Berkshire might be buying bank stocks, as the company's financial reports showed that after increasing by $35.9 billion in the second half of last year, Berkshire Hathaway's investment cost in "banks, insurance, and financial" stocks increased by another $14 billion in the first quarter of this year