Warren Buffett Ramps Up Occidental And Apple Stakes, Dumps Verizon

Summary

  • The guru did not add any new positions during the quarter.
  • He sold out of Verizon and Royalty Pharma.

Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)’s multibillion-dollar conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial), disclosed its equity portfolio for the second quarter of 2022 on Monday.

With a cash pile of over $106 billion to spend on stocks at the end of the first quarter, the renowned guru and his two portfolio managers, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs,dedicated a lot of cash to increasing the investment in Occidental PetroleumOXY
Corp. (OXY, Financial).

Other notable buys for the quarter that were reported in the 13F filing included increased bets on Ally FinancialALLY
Inc. (ALLY, Financial), AppleAAPL
Inc. (AAPL, Financial), Activision BlizzardATVI
Inc. (ATVI, Financial) and ChevronCVX
Corp. (CVX, Financial).

As for the sell side, Berkshire reduced its holdings of General MotorsGM
Co. (GM, Financial), U.S. BancorpTBBK
(USB, Financial) and The KrogerKR
Co. (KR, Financial). It also sold out of Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ, Financial) and Royalty Pharma PLC (RPRX, Financial).

Investors should be aware that 13F filings do not give a complete picture of a firm’s holdings as the reports only include its positions in U.S. stocks and American depository receipts, but they can still provide valuable information. Further, the reports only reflect trades and holdings as of the most-recent portfolio filing date, which may or may not be held by the reporting firm today or even when this article was published.

Berkshire’s five largest holdings, accounting for over half of the equity portfolio, are Apple, Bank of AmericaBAC
Corp. (BAC, Financial), Coca-ColaKO
Co. (KO, Financial), Chevron and American ExpressAXP
Corp. (AXP, Financial).

The guru’s $300.13 billion equity portfolio consisted of 47 stocks as of June 30. A majority of the portfolio was invested in technology stocks at 42.92%, while the financial services sector has a weight of 225.66% and the consumer defensive space represents 13.38%.

Occidental

As previously disclosed, Buffett increased his Occidental Petroleum (OXY, Financial) holding by 16.26% during the second quarter, buying 5.04 million shares. It has since been increased to 181.7 million shares. The transaction had an impact of 0.44% on the equity portfolio. The stock traded for an average price of $61.35 per share during the quarter.

The position currently occupies 3.11% of the equity portfolio and is now his seventh-largest holding. He has gained approximately 25.92% on the investment so far.

The Houston-based oil and gas producer has a $59.93 billion market cap; its shares were trading around $64.34 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 6.15, a price-book ratio of 3.32 and a price-sales ratio of 1.86.

The GF Value LineVALU
suggests the stock is modestly overvalued currently based on historical ratios, past financial performance and analysts’ future earnings projections.

Ally Financial

The Oracle of Omaha increased the Ally Financial (ALLY, Financial) stake by 234.47%, buying 21.03 million shares and impacting the equity portfolio by 0.23%. Shares traded for an average price of $40 each during the quarter.

He now holds 30 million shares total, accounting for 0.33% of the equity portfolio. GuruFocus estimates he has lost 15.46% on the investment so far.

The bank holding company headquartered in Detroit has a market cap of $11.01 billion; its shares were trading around $35.67 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 5.13, a price-book ratio of 0.96 and a price-sales ratio of 1.34.

According to the GF Value Line, the stock is modestly undervalued currently.

Apple

The guru added 3.87 million shares to the Apple (AAPL, Financial) position, impacting the equity portfolio by 0.18% and expanding the position 0.44%. During the quarter, the stock traded for an average per-share price of $151.81.

He now holds 894.8 million shares total, accounting for 40.76% of the equity portfolio. GuruFocus estimates he has gained 336.06% on the investment so far, which remains his largest holding.

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant, which is known for its electronics like the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, has a $2.78 trillion market cap; its shares were trading around $173.19 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 28.58, a price-book ratio of 47.97 and a price-sales ratio of 7.34.

Based on the GF Value Line, the stock appears to be fairly valued currently.

Activision Blizzard

Impacting the equity portfolio by 0.11%, Buffett boosted the Activision Blizzard (ATVI, Financial) stake by 6.35%, buying 4.08 million shares. During the quarter, the stock traded for an average price of $77.83 per share.

Berkshire now holds 68.4 million shares total, which represent 1.77% of the equity portfolio and is the 10th-largest holding. So far, GuruFocus data shows he has gained an estimated 6.68% on the investment.

The video game publisher headquartered in Santa Monica, California, which is being acquired by MicrosoftMSFT
Corp. (MSFT, Financial), has a market cap of $63.16 billion; its shares were trading around $80.73 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 33.63, a price-book ratio of 3.46 and a price-sales ratio of 8.29.

The GF Value Line suggests the stock is currently modestly overvalued.

Chevron

With an impact of 0.11% on the equity portfolio, the investor increased the Chevron (CVX, Financial) stake by 1.42%, buying 2.26 million shares. Shares traded for an average price of $165.26 each during the quarter.

He now holds 161.44 million shares total, accounting for 7.79% of the equity portfolio. GuruFocus estimates he has gained 18.88% on the investment so far, which is his fourth-largest holding.

The San Ramon, California-based energy giant has a $306.95 billion market cap; its shares were trading around $156.81 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-book ratio of 2 and a price-sales ratio of 1.48.

According to the GF Value Line, the stock is modestly undervalued currently.

General Motors

The guru trimmed his General Motors (GM, Financial) position by -14.78%, selling 9.16 million shares. The transaction impacted the equity portfolio by -0.11%. The stock traded for an average per-share price of $37.61 during the quarter.

Buffett now has a total of 52.87 million shares, giving it 0.56% space in the equity portfolio. GuruFocus says he has gained about 32.81% on the investment over its lifetime.

The automaker, which is headquartered in Detroit, has a market cap of $57.45 billion; its shares were trading around $39.40 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 7.46, a price-book ratio of 0.94 and a price-sales ratio of 0.44.

Based on the GF Value Line, the stock appears to be fairly valued currently.

U.S. Bancorp

Buffett curbed the U.S. Bancorp (USB, Financial) holding by 5.23%, selling 6.61 million shares and impacting the equity portfolio by -0.10%. The stock traded for an average price of $49.98 per share during the quarter.

The guru now holds 119.81 million shares, which make up 1.84% of the equity portfolio. He has gained approximately 54.45% on the investment, which is his ninth-largest holding.

The Minneapolis-based bank has a $72.92 billion market cap; its shares were trading around $49.08 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 11.28, a price-book ratio of 1.74 and a price-sales ratio of 3.16.

The GF Value Line suggests the stock is modestly undervalued.

Kroger

The Kroger (KR, Financial) stake was reduced 9.57%, shedding 5.55 million shares. Trading at an average price of $53.36 during the quarter, the transaction had an impact of -0.09%.

Buffett now holds 52.44 million shares, reflecting 0.83% of the equity portfolio. He has gained 49.86% on the investment.

The grocery store chain, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, has a market cap of $34 billion; its shares were trading around $47.52 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-book ratio of 3.68 and a price-sales ratio of 0.25.

According to the GF Value Line, the stock is modestly overvalued currently.

Verizon Communications

With an impact of -0.02% on the equity portfolio, the guru sold his remaining 1.38 million shares of Verizon (VZ, Financial). Shares traded for an average price of $50.59 each during the quarter.

GuruFocus data shows he lost an estimated 8.70% on the investment over its lifetime.

The telecommunications company headquartered in New York has a $191.34 billion market cap; its shares were trading around $45.56 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 9.14, a price-book ratio of 2.21 and a price-sales ratio of 1.41.

Based on the GF Value Line, the stock appears to be modestly undervalued currently.

Royalty Pharma

Buffett dumped his 1.49 million remaining shares of Royalty Pharma (RPRX, Financial), impacting the equity portfolio by -0.02%. The stock traded for an average per-share price of $40.95 each during the quarter.

According to GuruFocus, he gained 1.13% on the short-lived investment.

The New York-based company, which buys biopharmaceutical royalties, has a market cap of $19.28 billion; its shares were trading around $43.93 on Monday with a price-earnings ratio of 41.45, a price-book ratio of 3.21 and a price-sales ratio of 10.71.

The stock has gained 11.78% year to date.

See the rest of Buffett’s portfolio here.

Disclosures

I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gurufocus/2022/08/16/warren-buffett-ramps-up-occidental-and-apple-stakes-dumps-verizon/