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Warren Buffett is making changes and everyone is watching

Warren Buffett is making changes and everyone is scrutinising his moves. He is after all the world’s most famous investor.

So what happened?

In the final quarter of 2023, Berkshire Hathaway offloaded 10 million shares in Apple, slightly reducing its stake in the company.

Buffett has previously lauded Apple as one of the "four giants" crucial to Berkshire's value. This sale marked about 1.1% of Berkshire's investment in Apple, a company that has grown to represent approximately a fifth of Berkshire's market value since it first invested in 2016.

It looks more like a rebalancing act, where he is taking profits after Apple strong performance. Berkshire's remaining stake in Apple is still valued at $174 billion, maintaining its position as Berkshire's most substantial publicly traded investment. Moreover, the size of this stake still significantly overshadows its second-largest holding, Bank of America.

Source: Financial Times

However, there are some more significant changes worth noting. For instance, Berkshire has sold 78% of its HP shares and 32% of its stake in Paramount Global. It has also exited its investments in StoneCo, Globe Life, Markel Corporation and DR Horton.

These moves will reduce Berkshire's securities in its multibillion-dollar stock portfolio to 41 from 49 a year earlier, making the portfolio even more concentrated. Berkshire has also increased its investments in SiriusXM, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum.

Coming up:

• Share of top five companies in the S&P 500

• Three US stocks are bigger than the Euro Stoxx 50, FTSE 100 and SMI 20 combined

• Total returns for the Magnificent Seven in 2022, 2023 and 2024

• Warren Buffett’s portfolio broken down

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