Berkshire Hathaway added real estate stocks to its portfolio in the second quarter, once again increased its holdings in Western Petroleum, and significantly reduced its holdings in Activision Blizzard and General Motors.
In the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway added three new stocks to its portfolio, all of which are American home builders. It increased its holdings in Western Petroleum and credit card company Capital One, while significantly reducing its stakes in Activision Blizzard by 70% and General Motors by 45%. Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Coca-Cola, Chevron, and Western Petroleum remain the major holdings.
On Monday, August 14th, Berkshire Hathaway released its 13F report for the second quarter.
The report shows that as of the end of the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio value was $348.194 billion, higher than the $325.109 billion at the end of the first quarter.
During the second quarter, the company opened positions in 3 stocks, increased positions in 2 stocks, closed positions in 3 stocks, and reduced positions in 5 stocks.
Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio concentration remains high, with the top ten holdings accounting for 91.26% of the total portfolio, held for nearly 30 quarters.
Specifically, the 3 new stocks added to Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio in the second quarter are all real estate developers. They include: Horton, the largest homebuilder in the United States, with a market value of $726 million at the end of the second quarter; NVR, a homebuilder, with a market value of $705.68 million at the end of the second quarter; and Lennar, another homebuilder, with a market value of $172.38 million at the end of the second quarter.
The 3 stocks that were closed are: McKesson, a chain pharmacy services provider; Marsh & McLennan, a financial consulting company; and Vitesse Energy, an energy company.
During the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway increased its position in Western Petroleum by 5%, with a market value of $13.179 billion, ranking as the company's sixth largest holding; and increased its position in Capital One, a credit card services company, by 25%, with a market value of $1.364 billion.
The 5 stocks that were reduced are: Chevron, the U.S. oil giant, reduced by 7%; Activision Blizzard, significantly reduced by 70%; General Motors, significantly reduced by 45%; Celanese, a chemical company, significantly reduced by 39%; and Globe Life, an insurance company, significantly reduced by 60%.
It is worth noting that Activision Blizzard's stock price has risen 19% this year, but the proposed acquisition deal with Microsoft has encountered antitrust scrutiny, leading to a delay in the acquisition process. After the announcement of the deal, Buffett bought the stock in an arbitrage manner, but subsequently reduced his holdings in the company.
As of the end of the second quarter, Apple remained the top holding among the top ten holdings, with a position value accounting for 51% of the total holdings; Bank of America followed closely behind, with a position value accounting for 8.51% of the total holdings; American Express ranked third, with a position value accounting for 7.59% of the total holdings; Coca-Cola ranked fourth, with a position value accounting for 6.92% of the total holdings; Chevron and ExxonMobil, two energy companies, ranked fifth and sixth, with position values accounting for 5.56% and 3.78% of the total holdings, respectively; Kraft Heinz ranked seventh, with a position value accounting for 3.32% of the total holdings; Moody's ranked eighth, with a position value accounting for 2.46% of the total holdings; HP ranked ninth, with a position value accounting for 1.07% of the total holdings; and pharmaceutical company DeVita ranked tenth, with a position value accounting for 1.04% of the total holdings.
