Major Changes To Berkshire Hathaway’s Portfolio During Fourth Quarter, 2018

Dr. David Kass

Published onFebruary 15, 2019

After the market closed on February 14, Berkshire Hathaway released its SEC-13F filing for the quarter ending December 31, 2018.

Q4 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc

The largest changes were as follows:

New positions:

(1) Red Hat ($700 million)

(2) Suncor Energy ($300 million) (Note: Berkshire had a position during the third quarter of 2016.)

(3) StoneCo ($300 million)

Additions to existing positions:

(1) JP Morgan Chase ($1.5 billion)

(2) General Motors ($600 million)

(3) Travelers ($300 million)

(4) PNC Financial ($250 million)

Position eliminated:

(1) Oracle ($2 billion)

Positions reduced:

(1) Apple ($600 million)

(2) Phillips 66 ($350 million)

(Note: Berkshire reduced its stake in Apple by about 1%. According to Reuters, “One of the managers (Todd Combs or Ted Weschler) other than Warren Buffett had a position in Apple and sold part of it in order to make an unrelated purchase,” Buffett’s assistant Debbie Bosanek said in an email. “None of the shares under Warren’s direction have ever been sold.”)

Article by Dr. David Kass

Dr. David Kass

David I Kass Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Finance Ph.D., Harvard University Robert H. Smith School of Business 4412 Van Munching Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-1815 Phone: 301-405-9683 Email: [email protected] (link sends e-mail) Dr. David Kass has published articles in corporate finance, industrial organization, and health economics. He currently teaches Advanced Financial Management and Business Finance, and is the Faculty Champion for the Accelerated Finance Fellows. Prior to joining the faculty of the Smith School in 2004, he held senior positions with the Federal Government (Federal Trade Commission, General Accounting Office, Department of Defense, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis). Dr. Kass has recently appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, PBS Nightly Business Report, Maryland Public Television, Business News Network TV (Canada), Fox TV, American Public Media's Marketplace Radio, and WYPR Radio (Baltimore), and has been quoted on numerous occasions by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, where he has primarily discussed Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. He has also launched a Smith School “Warren Buffett” blog. Dr. Kass has accompanied MBA students on trips to Omaha for private meetings with Warren Buffett, and Finance Fellows to Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings. He is an officer of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, DC, and is a member of the investment and budget committees of a local nonprofit organization. Dr. Kass received a Smith School “Top 15% Teaching Award” for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Major Changes To Berkshire Hathaway’s Portfolio During Fourth Quarter, 2018

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