In addition to increasing his stake in Occidental Petroleum, Buffett has also made significant moves: in Q4, he reduced his holdings in bank stocks, increased his holdings in restaurant stocks, and did not further reduce his stake in Apple

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2025.02.15 00:55
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In the fourth quarter, Buffett's Berkshire sharply cut its Citigroup holdings by over 70% and reduced its stake in Bank of America by nearly 15%. Earlier this week, Berkshire disclosed that it continued to buy Occidental Petroleum, spending $35.7 million last Friday to increase its holdings by over 760,000 shares. The largest stock purchase by Berkshire in the fourth quarter was the beverage giant Constellation Brands, with a new investment of 5.62 million shares, and an increase of 1.1 million shares in Domino's Pizza, representing an increase of over 80%

The position report shows that, in addition to continuing to increase its holdings in Occidental Petroleum, Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, made the most notable adjustments in the fourth quarter of last year by reducing its bank stocks and increasing its restaurant stocks.

According to the 13F filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, February 14, two Wall Street giants, Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC), were the most significantly reduced individual stocks by Berkshire in the fourth quarter.

Among them, Berkshire's holdings in Citigroup were cut by more than 70% in the fourth quarter. By the end of the fourth quarter, the number of shares held decreased by approximately 40.605 million shares compared to the third quarter, a decline of 73.5%. The proportion of Citigroup in Berkshire's portfolio dropped from 1.3% to 0.39%, with a decrease in position value of $2.86 billion; Bank of America saw a reduction of approximately 117.4 million shares, a decrease of 14.72%, with its proportion in Berkshire's portfolio dropping from 11.88% to 11.17%, and a sharp decline in market value of $5.16 billion.

However, Bank of America remains Berkshire's third-largest holding. The ranking of the top ten holdings remains the same as in the third quarter, with Apple (AAPL) and American Express (AXP) still in the top two positions, followed by Coca-Cola (KO), Chevron (CVX), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Moody's (MCO), Kraft Heinz (KHC), Chubb Limited (CB), and DaVita (DVA).

Aside from Bank of America, the only stock among Berkshire's top ten holdings that was reduced in the fourth quarter was DaVita, which saw a decrease of approximately 203,000 shares, a decline of 0.56%.

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire did not further reduce its holdings in Apple. Last year, Apple remained Berkshire's largest holding, but in the second and third quarters, Berkshire significantly reduced its Apple shares by 50% and 25%, respectively. By the end of the third quarter, the number of Apple shares held had decreased from 905 million shares at the beginning of the year to 300 million shares, a decline of nearly 67%.

Continuing to Buy Occidental Petroleum, Spending $35.7 Million to Increase Holdings by Over 760,000 Shares Last Friday

Among the top ten holdings, Occidental Petroleum was the only stock that was increased in the fourth quarter. Earlier this week, Berkshire disclosed that it continued to increase its holdings in Occidental Petroleum this month, and the 13F filing did not change the previously disclosed data on its Occidental Petroleum holdings.

From December 17 to 19 last year, Berkshire invested over $400 million at an average price of about $46 per share to increase its holdings by nearly 8.9 million shares of Occidental Petroleum common stock. Subsequently, despite the continued decline in Occidental Petroleum's stock price, Berkshire further increased its holdings.

The SEC filing disclosed on Tuesday showed that on February 7, last Friday, Berkshire spent over $35.7 million to buy more than 763,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum at an average price of about $46.82 per share, raising its ownership stake to over 28.2%, with the number of Occidental Petroleum common shares held increasing to approximately 264.9 million shares As of the close on February 7, Occidental Petroleum's stock price has fallen more than 32% from the record closing high set on April 5 of last year.

New Investment in Constellation Brands and Increased Stake in Domino's Pizza

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hathaway made a new investment in the beverage giant Constellation Brands (STZ), which was also the stock with the highest value acquired by Berkshire during the quarter. The position was built with over 5.62 million shares, valued at over $1.24 billion, accounting for 0.56% of Berkshire's holdings.

After the disclosure of Berkshire's holdings, Constellation Brands' stock price, which had fallen nearly 0.2% on Friday after hours, surged over 6%.

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire also increased its stake in Domino's Pizza (DPZ), which was a new investment in the third quarter, adding 1.1 million shares, an increase of 86.49% quarter-over-quarter. Domino's was the second-largest new bet by Berkshire in the fourth quarter, only behind Constellation Brands.

Additionally, in the fourth quarter, Berkshire completely exited its position in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), which it had entered in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Berkshire had already significantly reduced its holdings in this cosmetics discount retailer, with the number of shares decreasing by 96.49% compared to the second quarter