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Omaha, Nebraska - Billionaire Warren Buffett's company bought a nearly $60M stake in Exxon Mobil, and cut its holdings in oil rival ConocoPhillips during the third quarter.
Berkshire Hathaway also significantly increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Omaha-based Berkshire disclosed the changes to its $59.7bn US stock portfolio in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.
During the quarter, Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 855 000 shares of Exxon Mobil. Its stake in ConocoPhillips was cut from more than 64 million shares at the end of June to more than 57 million shares, valued at nearly $2.6bn.
Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Wal-Mart, valued at $1.65bn, stood at 33.6 million shares at the end of September, up from nearly 20 million at the end of June.
A separate filing on Monday by the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation showed it raised its stake in Berkshire Hathaway to more than 1.6 million Class B shares, worth $3 431 apiece, from 1.25 million. Those shares are to be split 50-to-1 under Berkshire's Nov. 3 deal to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nation's second-largest railroad. Berkshire has agreed to pay $26.3bn in cash and stock for the 77.4% of the company it doesn't now own, valuing the entire company at $34bn.
Buffett has been a key donor to the Gates Foundation, with plans to give 10 million B shares in a series of annual gifts. Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder, is a friend and philanthropic ally of Buffett.
Another filing on Monday shows financier George Soros' company, Soros Fund Management LLC, increased its stake in Berkshire to 10 Class A shares - valued at around $103 000 apiece - from the previous four. Soros also acquired 200 Class B shares.
Berkshire's holdings reports are closely followed because of Buffett's legendary reputation as a savvy investor able to spot stock market bargains and then sell holdings that get overpriced.
The filing does not differentiate between investments Berkshire makes, investments any of its subsidiaries make, or investments Buffett himself makes.
In addition to its investments, Berkshire owns dozens of operating companies across a wide range of industries.
- AP
