Denver Warren Buffett has continued to increase his stake in Apple. At the end of June, Berkshire held 894.8 million Apple shares, valued at $122.3 billion. That’s almost five million shares more than three months earlier, according to a mandatory notification to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Buffett hasn’t held back on his praise for Apple in the past. The iPhone manufacturer is one of the “four giants” of his conglomerate, emphasized the Berkshire boss. In the first quarter, Buffett took advantage of Apple’s weak phase and made additional purchases. “Unfortunately, the price then went back up, so I stopped. Who knows how much else we would have bought,” he told CNBC in early May. CEO Tim Cook was also a guest at Berkshire’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the company’s headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, in May.
Buffett also continues to pour billions into oil companies. He increased his stake in Chevron by 1.4 percent. The oil company rose from sixth to fourth place in Buffett’s portfolio. The stake is worth $23.4 billion.
In addition, the Berkshire CEO made significant purchases in Occidental Petroleum, both in the second quarter and thereafter. Last week, Berkshire said the company now owns more than 20 percent of the stock, allowing it to post a portion of the company’s earnings to its own balance sheet. Analysts have repeatedly speculated as to whether Berkshire might want to take over the company entirely.
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Overall, however, Berkshire Hathaway was rather hesitant in the second quarter. In the first three months of the year, the conglomerate had increased its positions by a total of $41 billion. In the second quarter, acquisitions totaled just $3.8 billion. The portfolio was valued at $328 billion at the end of June.
Buffett also followed suit with the video game manufacturer Acitivsion Blizzard and the chemical company Celanese. At the annual general meeting in May, Buffett revealed that he personally stands behind the investment in Activision Blizzard, which is unusual for Berkshire.
One of his two investment managers, Ted Weschler or Todd Combs, originally took up a small position just before Microsoft’s acquisition was announced in January. Since then, Buffett has significantly increased his stake in Activision. The reason: arbitrage. The stock was well below the $95 Microsoft is willing to pay.
“Once in a while I see an arbitrage opportunity and I take it,” said Buffett, who will be 92 at the end of August. If the takeover is approved by the competition authorities, “then we’ll make some money. And if not, then we’ll see what happens.”
At the same time, in the second quarter, Berkshire disposed of its shares in mobile operator Verizon, which were worth around $70 million and had been part of the portfolio since the third quarter of 2020.
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