Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK BRK unloaded more than a quarter of its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. WFC and about 61% of its position in JPMorgan Chase JPM, while acquiring a new position in Barrick Gold Corp. GOLD, according to 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended Jun 30, that were released Friday afternoon.
Berkshire’s moves appeared to reflect a broad lightening of the conglomerates exposure to large-capitalization banks during the worst public health crisis in generations. Berkshire sold 85.6 million shares of Wells Fargo, representing about 26% of its stake and putting its ownership to about 3% from 5.3%.
The insurance conglomerate also shed 35.5 million shares of JPMorgan, 61% of its position, which now represents 1% of Berkshire’s overall portfolio from 3% in the prior period. Meanwhile, the investment firm acquired nearly 21 million shares of Barrick Gold worth $563 million, representing 0.3% of Berkshire’s holding. Berkshire also reduced its holding in PNC Financial Services PNC, selling 3.85 million shares to cut its position to 0.3% from 0.5%.
The insurance conglomerate boosted its stake in grocery chain Kroger Co. KR by 15%, purchasing 3 million shares. The report also showed that Buffett’s firm dumped its entire stakes in Goldman Sachs GS, Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY, as well as consummating an exodus of airline companies, including American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, Delta Air Lines DAL United Airlines UAL and Southwest Airlines Co. LUV. Berkshire didn’t change its holdings in Apple Inc. AAPL, where the firm owns at 245.156 million shares.
Large investors must disclose long stock positions held at the end of a quarter 45 days later in a 13F filing with the SEC, which means such filings are merely a snapshot of an investor holdings at a given point. Berkshire Class A and B shares are down by about 0.6% and 0.5% at Friday’s close. Meanwhile, shares of Wells Fargo were down 0.8% in after-hours trade on Friday, JPMorgan shares edged 0.1% lower, while Barrick’s stock was up 3.9% after Friday’s closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA booked a meager gain on the day, while the S&P 500 index SPX and technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP closed in negative territory. However, all three benchmarks booked weekly gains.
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