Warren Buffett’s portfolio: Stocks bought and sold by Berkshire Hathaway

Investing

Wayne Duggan

Farran Powell

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BLUEPRINT

Published 6:32 a.m. ET Aug. 3, 2023

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Investing legend Warren Buffett bought his first share of stock at age 11 in 1942. Over the next 80-plus years, Buffett’s value investing prowess made him one of the wealthiest and most successful investors of all time. Even after donating more than $50 billion to charity since 2006, the Oracle of Omaha’s net worth stands at $117 billion.

The legendary investor has been candid over the years in publicly discussing his long-term investing style. But if you’re looking to invest like Buffett in 2023, you don’t have to guess which stocks to buy.

Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) publicly discloses all of its top stock holdings quarterly. That gives investors a glimpse behind the curtain to see the stock portfolio of one of the world’s greatest investors.

Among the 47 companies that Berkshire Hathaway holds, eight stocks represent roughly 80% of the company’s holdings. Here’s a rundown of Warren Buffett’s eight largest holdings as of the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Apple (AAPL)

Apple is a leading producer of consumer computing devices, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac computers. In addition to device sales, Apple also generated $79.4 billion in revenue from services in 2022, including sales from its App Store, iCloud and Apple Care businesses.

Not only is Apple Berkshire’s largest public stock holding, but it’s also the biggest by far. Berkshire’s $176.3 billion Apple stake is more than five times larger than its second-largest holding. Buffett first bought Apple shares in the first quarter of 2016, and Apple’s stock price is up more than 630% since the beginning of 2016.

Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America is one of the largest U.S. banks and financial holdings companies, offering commercial and consumer banking, investment banking, and wealth management services. The bank has roughly $1.5 trillion in assets under management.

Buffett has always had a love affair with the financial sector, and Bank of America is currently Berkshire’s largest bank stock holding. Buffett’s history with the bank goes back to 2011 when Berkshire invested $5 billion in the bank to provide liquidity following the 2008 financial crisis. In 2017, Buffett exercised the warrants he acquired in the 2011 deal, which allowed him to purchase 700 million shares of BAC stock at a price of just $7.14 each.

American Express Co. (AXP)

American Express is a financial services company and a leading credit card issuer. The company also offers travel-related services. American Express’s payment network facilitates payment transactions between merchants and card issuers.

American Express is one of Buffett’s longest-standing investments. He began buying the stock way back in 1991, and it has been a home-run investment for Berkshire. Since the beginning of 1992, AXP stock has generated a total return of more than 3,000%. Not only is American Express Berkshire’s third-largest stock holding, but Buffett’s stake represents 20.6% ownership of the entire company.

Coca-Cola Co. (KO)

Coca-Cola is the world’s leading nonalcoholic beverage company. In addition to its Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and other soda brands, Coca-Cola also owns several popular nonsoda beverage brands, such as Dasani, vitaminwater, Powerade and Minute Maid.

Buffett’s history of investing in Coca-Cola goes back to 1988, making it Berkshire’s oldest current stockholding. By 1994, Berkshire held 100 million shares of KO stock, and Buffett had not sold a single share. Nearly 30 years and four stock splits later, Berkshire’s stake stands at 400 million shares worth $25 billion.

Chevron (CVX)

Chevron is one of the world’s largest publicly -traded oil and gas majors. The company produced a record 1.2 million barrels of oil-equivalent daily in 2022.

Chevron is a high-yielding dividend stock that pays long-term investors like Buffett 3.9% annually for their loyalty. Chevron has raised its dividend payout for 35 consecutive years.

Buffett bought the dip in Chevron shares in 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns sent crude oil prices plummeting to historic lows. Energy prices have rebounded in recent years, partly due to disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the most recent quarter, Buffett took some profit from his Chevron stake, reducing Berkshire’s holdings by about 18%.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Occidental Petroleum is one of the largest U.S. oil and gas exploration and production companies. The company also has a large chemical business.

Buffett first invested in Occidental in 2019 when Berkshire provided financing for Occidental’s $35.7 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum. As part of the deal, Berkshire acquired $10 billion in Occidental preferred stock that paid roughly $800 million in annual dividends. Berkshire also acquired warrants to purchase 83.9 million additional shares of stock.

In the past couple of years, Buffett has aggressively purchased more shares of Occidental. Last year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Berkshire to acquire up to a 50% ownership stake in Occidental, so Buffett’s investment will likely get even bigger.

Kraft Heinz (KHC)

Kraft Heinz is one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies, specializing in condiments, sauces, meals, meats, beverages and other grocery products. Its leading brands include Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia and Velveeta.

In 2013, Berkshire partnered with 3G Capital to complete a $23 billion buyout of Heinz. Over the next two years, Berkshire and 3G merged Kraft with Heinz to form one of the world’s largest food companies.

Unfortunately, Kraft Heinz shares have performed poorly in recent years, and Buffett even admitted in 2019 that he likely overpaid for his stake in the company. However, he still hasn’t sold his shares.

Moody’s Corp. (MCO)

Moody’s provides credit ratings, financial data, analytics and research. Moody’s is considered one of the “big three” corporate credit rating agencies, along with S&P Global and Fitch.

Buffett’s Moody’s investment dates back to 2000. Berkshire acquired Moody’s shares when the company was spun off from its former parent Dun & Bradstreet. Buffett’s cost basis for his Moody’s shares is only about $10, but the stock now trades at over $350, making it one of Buffett’s best investments of the past two decades. Buffett cut his stake in Moody’s from 48 million shares to under 25 million shares by 2013, but he has maintained his remaining 13.4% ownership stake in the company.

Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent 13F filing revealed Buffett added two new stock holdings in the first quarter of 2023.

The company acquired a 9.9 million-share stake in financial services company Capital One Financial (COF) and a 227,750-share stake in alcoholic beverage company Diageo (DEO).

In the third quarter of 2022, Berkshire disclosed new investments in semiconductor foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), forest products company Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) and investment bank Jefferies Financial (JEF).

Buffett quickly reversed course on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, dumping Berkshire’s entire stake in the first quarter of 2023. Berkshire added to its Louisiana-Pacific stake in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Berkshire completely exited a handful of stocks in the first quarter:

In addition to exiting four stocks, Buffett also significantly reduced several holdings in the first quarter:

Historically, Buffett has often exited large positions by selling Berkshire’s entire stake slowly over multiple quarters. But Buffett has been known to change his mind and reverse course occasionally, so a stake reduction does not guarantee Buffett is exiting a position entirely.

Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio is actively managed, so the company regularly adjusts its holdings as opportunities arise in the market. But investors only see which stocks Buffett has been buying and selling once per quarter when Berkshire publicly files its Form 13F disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

From 1965 to 2022, Berkshire Hathaway generated a compound annual return of 19.8%, doubling the 9.9% compound annual return of the S&P 500. Buffett has even earned the nickname the Oracle of Omaha for his uncanny ability to pick stock winners.

Yes, Buffett targets companies with a durable competitive advantage, such as a strong brand or a large, loyal customer base. He also takes a long-term approach to value investing, identifying attractively valued companies based on their earnings and growth outlooks, accumulating large positions and holding those positions for years or even decades unless the company’s business fundamentals change.

Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

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Wayne Duggan

BLUEPRINT

Wayne Duggan is a regular contributor for Forbes Advisor and U.S. News and World Report and has been a staff writer for Benzinga since 2014. He is an expert in the psychological challenges of investing and frequently reports on breaking market news and analyst commentary related to popular stocks. Some of his prior work includes contributing news and analysis to Seeking Alpha, InvestorPlace.com, Motley Fool, and the Lightspeed Active Trading blog. He’s the author of the book "Beating Wall Street With Common Sense," which focuses on practical investing strategies to outperform the stock market. He resides in Biloxi, Mississippi

Farran Powell

BLUEPRINT

Farran Powell is the lead editor of investing at USA TODAY Blueprint. She was previously the assistant managing editor of investing at U.S. News and World Report. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including TheStreet, Mansion Global, CNN, CNN Money, DNAInfo, Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money and the New York Daily News. She holds a BSc from the London School of Economics and an MA from the University of Texas at Austin. You can follow her on Twitter at @farranpowell.

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