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What stocks has Warren Buffett recently purchased and sold? Investors get a rare look behind the curtain of some of the world's largest and most successful hedge funds every quarter when all fund managers with at least $100 million in assets must publicly declare their stock holdings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission via form 13F. Buffett and his $713 billion corporation Berkshire Hathaway Inc. have one of the most anticipated quarterly filings (ticker: BRK.A, BRK.B). Here are nine of the most significant modifications to Berkshire's portfolio made by the Oracle of Omaha in the fourth quarter, as well as one major recent move.
Buffett appeared to be investing in the health-care industry's response to the pandemic in 2020 through drugmaker AbbVie. In the third quarter of 2020, Buffett began buying AbbVie stock, but in the first quarter of 2021, he changed direction and began selling. Berkshire sold 11.4 million shares of ABBV stock in the fourth quarter, lowering its remaining holding by 78 percent. Berkshire still had more than 3 million AbbVie shares worth $410.7 million at the end of the quarter. Buffett may entirely exit his remaining AbbVie investment in the next quarters if the current trend continues.
Another pharmaceutical business that may be a Buffett blunder on the pandemic is Bristol-Myers Squibb. Buffett began buying Bristol-Myers in the third quarter of 2020 and began selling in the first quarter of 2021, much like he did with AbbVie. Berkshire sold around 16.8 million shares in the fourth quarter, lowering its investment size by about 76%. Buffett totally unloaded a holding in Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) in the third quarter of 2021, and he's been constantly selling shares of AbbVie and Bristol-Myers for the past year, so Berkshire is expected to sell the remaining 5.2 million shares of BMY stock soon.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Buffett made his first investment in Chevron, a significant American oil company. The oil business, as well as Buffett's Chevron stock, has been on a roller coaster ride since then. In the first and second quarters of 2021, Buffett cut his Chevron holdings, but a worldwide energy crisis and Russia's invasion of Ukraine had brought crude oil prices to 13-year highs. Buffett's position appears to have shifted as the energy market has evolved. In the fourth quarter, Berkshire purchased nearly 9.5 million shares of Chevron stock, bringing his total holding in the company to $4.5 billion.
Nubank, a Brazilian digital bank, launched its initial public offering in December, although Berkshire invested $500 million in the company in June 2021 as part of a private funding round. Buffett has typically avoided participating in initial public offerings (IPOs), but Nubank is an exception. Berkshire reportedly purchased about 30 million Nubank shares during the IPO, putting its total Nubank investment at roughly 107.1 million shares worth about $1 billion, according to Berkshire's 13F filings. Since going public, NU stock has struggled, closing at $6.83 on March 7, much below its IPO price of $9 per share.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced in January that it will buy video game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, or $95 per share. Berkshire shareholders had no knowledge that just weeks before the proposed merger, Buffett's business had purchased over $1 billion in Activision Blizzard shares at an average price of around $77. Buffett later stated that the stock was the responsibility of one of Berkshire's two investment managers, who works independently of him. Berkshire had around 14.7 million shares of ATVI stock worth $975.2 million at the end of the fourth quarter.
Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israeli drug business, has been one of Buffett's worst blunders in recent years. Teva was Buffett's first investment, and he paid a high-teens average price for it in the fourth quarter of 2017. Berkshire dumped their entire 42.8 million-share interest in Teva in the fourth quarter of 2021, and the stock is now trading for less than $8 per share. Buffett's broad theme of minimizing Berkshire's exposure to the health-care sector is reflected in the liquidation of the Teva shareholding. Teva, unfortunately for Buffett, turned out to be more of a value trap for Berkshire than a triumph.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Buffett made his first investment in insurance broker Marsh & McLennan. Buffett has long been a fan of the insurance industry, and Berkshire owns a significant core insurance company. Buffett, on the other hand, began reducing his Marsh & McLennan position in the second quarter of 2021 and continued through the fourth. Berkshire sold nearly 2.3 million shares of MMC stock last quarter, reducing its remaining holdings by about 85%. Berkshire had more over 5 million shares of MMC stock at one point in 2020, but that holding is now reduced to just 404,911 shares worth $70.4 million.
Buffett made his first investment in satellite radio business Sirius XM in the fourth quarter of 2016, and it may appear that he has sold out after six years. While Berkshire sold all 43.7 million shares of SIRI stock in the fourth quarter, it still owns 20.2 million shares of Liberty Sirius XM Group Series A (LSXMA) and 43.2 million shares of Liberty Sirius XM Group Series C (LSXMK), totaling $3.2 billion. Sirius XM is owned by Liberty Sirius XM, a tracking stock that has a controlling share in the company.
FWONK was Berkshire's lone new investment in the fourth quarter, aside from Activision Blizzard and Nubank. Formula One Group is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp., which is owned by billionaire businessman John Malone. It is one of several Berkshire investments in the corporation. Liberty Formula One is a stock that tracks the assets of Liberty Media's Formula One Group, which includes an 11 percent share in Liberty Media subsidiary and Atlanta Braves parent company the Braves Group. Berkshire bought around 2.1 million shares of FWONK stock for about $134 million in the fourth quarter, a very small holding by Buffett's standards.
Berkshire Hathaway announced on March 4 that it now owns 91.2 million shares of Occidental Petroleum, valued at $5.1 billion, up from around 29.8 million shares earlier. The majority of the purchases were made in early March, according to reports. Occidental is one of the leading oil and gas businesses in the United States. Berkshire also owns 83.9 million warrants, which may be redeemed for $59.62 per share of Occidental common stock. The warrants were purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 2019, when Occidental was seeking funds to try to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
