Berkshire significantly cut bank stocks in Q1, completely liquidated Citigroup, maintained its Apple holdings, doubled its position in beer manufacturers, and kept a secret position in deposits

According to regulatory filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway completely exited Citigroup in the first quarter, reduced its holdings in Bank of America and Capital One Financial Corp., while its main holdings remain Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and Chevron.

Reduced Bank Stocks, Exited Citigroup, Beer Manufacturer Holdings Doubled

According to the 13F filing, Berkshire sold 14,639,502 shares of Citigroup; the document also shows that the company sold 48,660,056 shares of Bank of America, a reduction of over 7%; as of March 31, Berkshire still held over 631.5 million shares of Bank of America. Berkshire also reduced its holdings in Capital One Financial Corp. by 300,000 shares, a decrease of about 4%.

Berkshire's largest purchase this quarter was beer manufacturer Constellation Brands Inc., acquiring 6,384,676 shares, increasing its holdings by over 113%, bringing the total to 12,009,000 shares. Additionally, the company doubled its holdings in pool equipment supplier Pool Corp.

Furthermore, Berkshire completely exited its holdings in Nu Holdings, which operates the Brazilian digital bank Nubank, with a scale of 40 million shares. Berkshire reduced its investment in Liberty Formula One by about half, down to 3.5 million shares.

Apple Remains the Largest Holding

Currently, Apple Inc. remains Berkshire's largest single holding, with 300 million shares, accounting for about 25% of its entire stock portfolio. Although Berkshire had previously significantly reduced its Apple holdings, according to the latest 13F filing, Berkshire did not further reduce its holdings in the first quarter. As of March 31, the market value of Berkshire's Apple shares was $66.6 billion. At the Berkshire annual shareholder meeting held on May 2, Buffett highly praised Apple CEO Tim Cook's leadership abilities.

In addition to Apple, Berkshire's other major holdings include American Express, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and Chevron.

Media analysis suggests that overall, this quarter, Buffett and his two investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made relatively few trading operations in stocks. Combs and Weschler jointly manage about 10% of Berkshire's stock portfolio, while the remainder is personally managed by Buffett.

Many of Berkshire's smaller holdings (with market capitalizations below $2 billion to $3 billion) are managed by Combs or Weschler, who typically operate independently of each other and Buffett

Confidential Holdings Exist

Earlier this month, Buffett announced at the Berkshire shareholder meeting that he would step down as CEO of Berkshire by the end of the year, shocking many shareholders. He will hand over power to his designated successor, Greg Abel, while continuing to serve as the company's chairman.

Large U.S. investors are required to submit Form 13F to the SEC within 45 days after the end of each quarter, disclosing their long positions. These documents are closely monitored by the market to keep investors informed about the latest movements of large institutions. The information in Form 13F is somewhat delayed and may not be complete. Filers are not required to disclose short positions, and the listed holdings may only be part of larger transactions. However, market observers will still carefully analyze Berkshire's 13F filings to gain insights into Buffett and his investment lieutenant's recent activities.

At the same time, Berkshire has also submitted a confidentiality request to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asking not to disclose one or more stock investments in the 13-F report. Media analysis suggests that this is likely at Buffett's request, as he hopes to quietly increase his holdings in certain stocks without attracting market attention or driving up prices.

Previously, during Buffett's increase in holdings of insurance company Chubb, Berkshire also made a similar confidentiality request and ultimately disclosed that position in 2024.

Media analysis based on Berkshire's first-quarter 10-Q filing released earlier in May indicates that if the newly added confidential holding is only one stock, its investment scale is relatively small, estimated between $1 billion and $2 billion. This new investment is likely part of Berkshire's so-called "commercial and industrial" stock investment portfolio.

According to Berkshire's financial report, the company net sold stocks in the first quarter, with total purchases amounting to $3.2 billion and total sales reaching $4.7 billion. Berkshire's total cash and U.S. Treasury holdings have risen to a record $333 billion (after deducting payables reserved for purchasing some short-term Treasury bills). Market observers have been closely watching when Buffett will deploy this massive amount of capital into the market