Warren Buffett's Berkshire Reveals Three New Secret Buys

Warren Buffett`s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. cut his acquisition of Apple Inc. During the last months of the year. The conglomerate also revealed three new buys they had secretly made.

Berkshire bought shares in Verizon Communications Inc. Insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. And Chevron Corp., bets that have been granted confidential status and have not been disclosed in the third-quarter regulatory filing, according to an updated document released Tuesday. The investment news sent shares of these three companies up in after-market trading.

Apple's stake cut reduction Berkshire in possession of an estimated $ 120 billion by the end of 2020, according to another filing. iPhone Maker remains Berkshire's biggest shareholder company.

Buffett and his deputy investment partner Todd Combs and Ted Weschler have reshaped the portfolio over the past year as the coronavirus pandemic spreads in the U.S. The company has invested heavily in the banking sector, which has had a performing well in this pandemic but vulnerable to consumer finance and commercial real estate. The conglomerate has spent the last few months listening up on some of these lenders while keeping its bets on companies like Bank of America Corp.

Read more about what money managers bought and sold in the fourth quarter

Berkshire reduced some of its bank holdings, exiting JPMorgan Chase & Co., PNC Financial Services Group, and M&T Bank Corp. while reducing its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. by 59%. The company also shifted recent bets on pharmaceutical companies by increasing its stake in Merck & Co Inc. AND Abbvie Inc. AND Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Berkshire dropped a bet on Barrick Gold. The reversal came as a surprise when it was revealed last year, given that Buffett spent years chiding the precious metal. The company also reduced its investment in General Motors, reducing that acquisition to an estimated $ 3 billion stake at the end of the fourth quarter.

Some of the new risks were significant. Berkshire made a Chevron investment of approximately $ 4.1 billion at the end of 2020, while Marsh & McLennan's stakes were valued at $ 499 million. Berkshire raised an $ 8.6 billion stake in Verizon, a company it had previously bet on but cut in 2019.

Shares of Verizon rose approximately 2.7% to $ 55.59 as of 6:03 pm. In New York, Chevron gained 2.4%. Marsh & McLennan were up less than 1% to $ 115 as of 4:58 p.m.

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