Diamond Member Pelican Press 0 Posted May 2, 2024 Diamond Member Share Posted May 2, 2024 Souring on Apple? Mystery bank stock? Buffett may clarify portfolio at annual meeting Warren Buffett’s loyal watchers will hear from the investment guru at Berkshire Hathaway ‘s annual meeting this weekend, where the 93-year-old icon may explain some of the recent moves in his giant equity portfolio. This year’s so-called “Woodstock for Capitalists,” held in Omaha, Nebraska, will be exclusively broadcast and live streamed by CNBC. Our special coverage begins Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Trimming Apple One surprising move from the conglomerate was selling about 10 million Apple shares (just 1% of its massive stake) in the fourth quarter. At the end of 2023, Berkshire owned 905.6 million shares of the iPhone maker, worth more than $174 billion and accounting for more than 40% of the portfolio. The move surprised many Berkshire shareholders because Apple has been Buffett’s favorite stock for years, even calling the tech giant his second-most important business after Berkshire’s cluster of insurance companies. The last time Buffett trimmed his Apple stake even slightly was in the fourth quarter of 2020, and the Oracle of Omaha admitted then that it was “probably a mistake.” While only Buffett could explain what prompted the move, there are some possible explanations. First, Apple’s stock had gotten too big. It gained a whopping 48% in 2023 as megacap technology companies led the market rally. At its peak, Apple ballooned to half of Berkshire’s entire equity portfolio. Second, it could have been Buffett’s investment deputies Todd Combs and Ted Weschler who trimmed the Apple stake in order to fund other purchases. A regulatory filing revealed a similar move in late 2018, and Buffett’s assistant Debbie Bosanek explained then that “one of the managers other than Warren had a position in Apple and sold part of it in order to make an unrelated purchase.” Berkshire first began buying Apple in 2016 under the influence of one of Buffett’s managers. Secret bank stock? There’s a chance that Buffett might reveal at the annual meeting the mystery bank stock that Berkshire has been buying for two quarters straight . In the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2023, Berkshire requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission keep the details of one or more of its stock holdings confidential. Many speculated that the secret purchase could be a bank stock as the conglomerate’s cost basis for “banks, insurance, and finance” equity holdings jumped by $2.4 billion. It’s relatively rare for Berkshire to request such confidential treatment. The last time it kept a purchase confidential was when it bought positions in Chevron and Verizon in 2020. SiriusXM tracker The Berkshire Hathaway CEO might also get asked about the aggressive buying of Liberty Media’s tracking stock for New York-based satellite radio company SiriusXM. The Omaha-based conglomerate has been building the stake in a likely merger arbitrage play for a few months. Most recently, a filing revealed that Berkshire bought more of these shares just this week —311,637 shares of Liberty Media Corp Series C , the tracking stock for SiriusXM, at an average price of $25.47 each. Berkshire now owns more than 70 million of the tracking stock. In December, Liberty Media said it would simplify the ownership structure by combining two tracking stocks with the rest of the radio company, with the new combination trading under the single ticker SIRI. Under the terms of the deal, expected to close early in the third quarter, each Liberty Media Sirius tracking share will be exchanged for 8.4 “new” SIRI shares, while “old” SIRI shareholders would receive new shares in a one-for-one exchange. Paramount There could also be a question about Berkshire’s likely losing bet on Paramount at the shareholder meeting, given the recent drama at the entertainment company. Earlier this week, Paramount Global announced CEO Bob Bakish is stepping down and will replaced by three executives in what the company called the “Office of the CEO.” Bakish’s exit comes as Paramount continues merger talks with Skydance. Even with a buyout offer, Berkshire’s bet still might still prove unprofitable. The conglomerate already trimmed its stake by about a third in the fourth quarter. Buffett has expressed pessimism about the streaming industry , saying there are too many players seeking viewer dollars, sparking a price war. “You need higher prices, or it doesn’t work,” Buffett said at Berkshire’s 2023 annual meeting. “You’ve got a bunch of companies that don’t want to quit. And who knows what pricing does under that. But anybody who tells you that they know what pricing will do in the future is kidding themselves.” This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up Investment strategy,Stock markets,Berkshire Hathaway Inc,Berkshire Hathaway Inc,Warren Buffett,Verizon Communications Inc,Chevron Corp,Paramount Global,Warren Buffett,Liberty Media Corp,Liberty Media Corp,business news #Souring #Apple #Mystery #bank #stock #Buffett #clarify #portfolio #annual #meeting This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up For verified travel tips and real support, visit: https://hopzone.eu/ 0 Quote Link to comment https://hopzone.eu/forums/topic/25495-souring-on-apple-mystery-bank-stock-buffett-may-clarify-portfolio-at-annual-meeting/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
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