Berkshire Hathaway released its latest quarterly report on Saturday with a telling number: the Warren Buffett-led conglomerate now owns only $84.2 billion in Apple stock, down nearly 50% from the $174.3 billion it held in December. Apple shares dropped more than 5% in response to the news Monday.
The report shows that, as of December 31, 79% of the combined value of all of Berkshire's stock came from five companies: Apple ($174.3 billion), Bank of America ($34.8 billion), American Express ($28.4 billion), Coca-Cola ($23.6 billion) and Chevron ($18.8 billion).
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By June 30, Berkshire changed its holdings where the same five companies were 72% of its total stock value. Apple is still Berkshire's largest holding, but Berkshire's stake in the iPhone maker dropped to $84.2 billion. Chevron fell to $18.6 billion, while Bank of America, American Express, and Coca-Cola rose to $41.1 billion, $35.1 billion, and $25.5 billion respectively.
"A safe conclusion is that Berkshire is getting defensive," CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert told Reuters , meaning Berkshire could be playing it safe and responding to high stock market valuations, or concerns about the U.S. economy .
Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of over $3 trillion at the time of writing. Berkshire has now cut its Apple stake for three quarters in a row .
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At Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in May, 93-year-old Buffett hinted that Berkshire cut its Apple holdings for tax reasons and that he remained confident in Apple.
"We will own — unless something really extraordinary happens — we will own Apple and American Express and Coca-Cola when Greg takes over this place," Buffett said, referring to his successor Greg Abel.
Other top ten Berkshire holdings include Occidental Petroleum, Moody's, and Kraft Heinz.
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