By Karen Langley
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reduced its positions in several financial stocks in the fourth quarter, but didn't sell any Apple shares.
The Omaha, Neb., company continued to sell Bank of America, one of its biggest stockholdings, slashed its stake in Citigroup and unloaded part of its position in Capital One Financial, according to a regulatory filing made public after the market closed Friday.
Berkshire unveiled a new position in Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and Corona beer in the U.S., worth $1.2 billion at the end of December. It sold off its shares of Ulta Beauty.
Observers of the famed stock picker were watching closely to see if Berkshire's sales of Apple would continue for a fifth consecutive quarter. But Berkshire ended 2024 still holding 300 million shares of the consumer-electronics company. The stake, valued at $75.1 billion on Dec. 31, remained the sprawling conglomerate's largest stockholding, followed by American Express and BofA.
While the Form 13F filings offer a periodic snapshot of Berkshire's stock portfolio, they don't provide clues into the thinking behind those investment decisions. Berkshire observers will peruse Buffett's annual letter on Feb. 22 for any insights the CEO and chairman chooses to share about the recent trades.
Friday's filing also showed that Berkshire added to the Domino's Pizza and Pool Corp. positions it revealed three months ago.
The new Constellation stake has hit an early rough patch. In January, the company missed earnings expectations and cut its outlook for the year. Its shares are down 26% this year.
Berkshire watchers had wondered if the company kept selling shares of Bank of America after its stake in October fell below a 10% threshold that required frequent reporting of trades. The new filing shows Berkshire did continue to sell.
Institutional investors managing at least $100 million of U.S. stocks and certain other equities have to disclose their holdings at the end of each quarter in Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors have 45 days to submit the filings, so current stock portfolios may not match what is shown in the forms.
Write to Karen Langley at karen.langley@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 14, 2025 17:28 ET (22:28 GMT)
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