Berkshire Hathaway Acquired Netflix Rival in Q1, Sold These Drug Shares | Investors Business Daily

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) bought Paramount Global (PARA) for the first time during turmoil in the stock market in the first quarter, while two drug stocks were dropped completely.

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What Warren Buffett bought, sold in Q1

Buffett’s Berkshire picked up nearly 69 million shares of Paramount Global worth more than $ 2.6 billion, according to the latest 13F filed late Monday, as tracked by whalewisdom.com. The small but growing streaming service Paramount + is a rival to Netflix and Disney +. Paramount shares rose 15.3% to 32.32 on Tuesday.

In Q1, Berkshire also opened $ 3 billion worth of stakeholdings Citigroup (C) and worth $ 390 million Ally Financial (ALLY) while exiting a small remaining position in Well Fargo (WFC). Citigroup shares and Ally Financial shares rose 7.6% and 6.2% respectively on Tuesday.

The conglomerate also took a new position in Keytruda cancer medicine manufacturer Merck (MCK) while reducing Royalty Pharma (RPRX). It dumped too Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) and AbbVie (ABBV) completely after reducing these drug stocks steadily. In addition, bought it Celanese (C) and Markel (MKL) for the first time.

Merck is in a buying area after clearing an entry of 89.58 in one cup with handle base.

Berkshire Hathaway became an active buyer of shares during the previous quarter’s volatility, especially in the last six weeks of the quarter, after a long line of subdued purchases.

Another shareholding grew in Chevron (CVX), adding nearly 121 million shares. It also grew Occidental Petroleum (OXY) with almost 6 million shares with oil prices near peaks.

The conglomerate added 3.8 million shares of top stock apple (AAPL) during the technology share sale in the first quarter, which took the total Apple share to 890.9 million. It collected approximately 50 million more shares Activision Blizzard (ATVI) as well.

In addition, Buffett added Liberty Media (FWONK), Floor and decor (FND), General motors (GM) and RH (RH) in Q1. It cut an ownership stake in Verizon (VZ) by 99% and also reduced Retail capital (LARGE) and Kroger (KR) last quarter.

The 13F file is a required disclosure for institutional investors who manage more than $ 100 million in assets. Some investors use 13F registrations to assess how “smart money” is investing in the stock market.

Top Berkshire Hathaway stock

In addition to Apple shares, Berkshire’s latest 13F filing showed that the top hold of Warren Buffett’s Dow stock-heavy portfolio remained stable during Q1’s technology-driven sales.

Bank of America (BAC), American Express (AXP), Coca Cola (KO) and Kraft Heinz (KHC) is considered one of Berkshire’s largest shareholdings. A smaller but remarkable inventory is Amazon (AMZN).

The conglomerate made no changes to any of these holdings during the first quarter.

Investment legend Warren Buffett has a long-term track record of beating the market with his choices. The Berkshire CEO tends to be a buy-and-hold investor, holding on to stocks for years or decades. For example, the outfit has been stuck on the Coca Cola stock since the first quarter of 2001.

In 2021, Berkshire Hathaway played mostly defense as the stock market marched higher, while the large pile of money remained high. Buffett is known to hate paying too much for stocks or companies.

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In the first quarter, he “bought dip”, and invested heavily in energy prices remaining high. Berkshire’s total investment in Occidental and Chevron was worth more than $ 39 billion at the end of Q1, a relatively large investment in the energy sector.

“The acceleration in investment activity has been a welcome surprise,” Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan wrote in a note on April 30.

In Q1, Berkshires’ net share purchase exceeded $ 41 billion against net sales of $ 7 billion during 2021, Shanahan said. It also repurchased $ 3.2 billion of Berkshire shares. In the midst of these movements, the cash balance shrank by $ 40 billion from the end of 2021 to $ 106 billion at the end of March.

Class B shares in the Berkshire share rose 1.8% amid a broad upswing in the stock market today. Apple stock rose 2.5 percent.

Find Aparna Narayanan on Twitter at @IBD_Aparna.

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