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Investors and the media have long been attracted to what Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) puts, keeps, and removes from its investment shopping cart. Buffett, one of the world’s most successful stock investors, mastered the knack of selecting not only winners but also companies that can weather a storm.
Berkshire Hathaway’s investment basket may alter from time to time, but the stocks picked always reflect what Buffett views as solid investments.
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks By Value
As of the end of June 2023, according to the most recent 13F quarterly filing released on August 14, these were the top 10 stocks held by Warren Buffett, ranked by value:
- Apple (AAPL), 915.56 million shares worth $177,59 billion
- Bank of America (BAC), 1.033 billion shares worth $26.63 billion
- American Express (AXP), 151.60 million shares worth $26.41 billion
- Coca-Cola (KO), 400 million shares worth $24.09 billion
- Chevron (CVX), 123.12 million shares worth $19.37 billion
- Occidental Petroleum (OXY), 224.13 million shares worth $13.18 billion
- Kraft Heinz (KHC), 325.64 million shares worth $11.56 billion
- Moody’s Corp (MCO), 24.67 million shares worth $8.58 billion
- HP (HPQ), 120.95 million shares worth $3.71 billion
- DaVita Inc (DVA), 36.10 million shares worth $3.63 billion
Top 25 Berkshire Hathaway Holdings: In-Depth Review
1. Apple Inc (AAPL)
The Cupertino, California-based tech behemoth manufactures and sells smartphones, tablets, personal computers (PC), and related accessories.
The world’s biggest company by market capitalization is Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holdings, accounting for nearly 51% of its portfolio.
As of June 2023, the company owned 915.56 million AAPL shares worth $177.59 billion.
2. Bank of America Corp. (BAC)
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bank of America is the second-largest U.S. bank in terms of market capitalization. It’s also in the second spot among the Top 25 Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings, accounting for 8.5% of the total portfolio.
BAC has a market cap of $208.46 billion as of October 2023.
3. American Express Co. (AXP)
The leading global payment company issues charge cards, credit cards, and travel cheques. It has a long history of dividend payments, which fits Warren Buffett’s stock preference. The annual dividends received from Berkshire Hathaway’s investments in AXP increased to $302 million from $41 million.
Amex accounted for about 7.6% of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings in June and has $104.26 billion in market capitalization as of October 2023.
4. Coca-Cola Co. (KO)
Coca-Cola is the producer of over 200 non-alcoholic beverages, including the iconic fizzy drink brands Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite. It is the fourth largest holding in Warren Buffett’s portfolio, as its powerful brand provides dividend growth for Berkshire.
The cash dividend that Berkshire received from Coke had risen to $704 million by 2022 from $75 million in 1994.
Berkshire had 400 million shares of KO valued at $24.09 billion as of June 2023.
5. Chevron Corp. (CVX)
Chevron is the second-largest energy company based in the U.S. in terms of revenue and market cap after Exxon Mobil (XOM).
While Berkshire Hathaway has reduced its interests in Chevron since the fourth quarter of 2022, the San Remo, California-based firm remains in the fifth place of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings, representing 5.56% of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.
6. Occidental Petroleum (OXY)
OXY has recently emerged among the top of Warren Buffett’s stocks. The Houston-based oil and gas explorer has assets in the Permian Basin, the Rockies, the Gulf of Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa.
In June, Berkshire owned 224.13 million OXY shares, representing 3.78% of its portfolio.
The company has a market cap of $57.66 billion as of October 2023.
7. Kraft Heinz (KHC)
The producer of ubiquitous pantry supplies, such as Heinz Ketchup, Lea Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce, and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, is the third largest food and beverage company in North America.
Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in the company was 3.3% of its portfolio.
As of October 2023, Kraft Heinz has a market cap of $38.45 billion.
8. Moody’s Corp (MCO)
The New York-based company is a global risk assessment firm with operations in over 40 countries. It offers services, including credit ratings, research, and analysis on debt instruments and securities.
It has been a part of Berkshire Hathaway’s interests since the fourth quarter of 2000. In June, Moody’s accounted for 2.46% of Berkshire’s holdings.
The company has a market capitalization of $58.22 billion as of October 2023.
10. HP (Hewlett-Packard) Inc (HPQ)
An American technology company based in Palo Alto, California, manufactures and sells printers and printing solutions for home and commercial users.
Berkshire’s first purchase of HP was in Q2 2022, according to 13f.info.
In June, Buffett had 120.95 million HP shares valued at $3.71 billion, representing 1.1% of his total portfolio.
10. DaVita Inc. (DVA)
DaVita is a health care provider focusing on kidney care services. It provides care for patients at every stage of kidney disease, including providing support transplantation at hospitals, dialysis centers to home dialysis services.
As of June 2023, Buffett’s holdings in DaVita were worth $3.63 billion, accounting for 1.04% of its total investment.
11. Verisign (VRSN)
The Reston, Virginia-based technology firm offers domain name registrars and internet network infrastructure. VeriSign is the exclusive operator for the registration of the most popular domain names,.com and.net.
Berkshire Hathaway had 12.82 million VeriSign shares valued at $2.90 billion, representing 0.83% of its portfolio.
12. Citigroup (C.PRK)
Citigroup is a multinational, diversified financial institution providing banking and wealth management services.
Although the bank has continued to struggle to recover from the collapse in 2008 during the height of the financial crisis, Buffett still keeps Citibank in its basket.
In June, Berkshire held 55.24 million shares of Citigroup worth $2.54 billion, representing 0.73% of its total portfolio.
13. Kroger Co. (KR)
When Barney Kroger opened a grocery store in Cincinnati with his life savings of $372, he didn’t expect it to grow into one of the largest retailers in the United States.
Berkshire put Kroger’s shares in his shopping cart in the final quarter of 2019, paying $549 million for 18.4 million shares. In June 2023, It held 50 million shares in Kroger worth $2.35 million.
As of October 2023, Kroger has a market cap of $31.74 billion.
14. Visa Inc. (V)
The San Francisco-based company is the world’s largest financial service firm, with a market capitalization of $500 billion as of October 2023.
Buffett held 8.30 million shares of Visa at $1.97 billion as of June.
15. Mastercard Inc (MA)
Mastercard is the world’s third largest financial service company after Visa and JP Morgan, with a market cap of $362.19 billion as of October 2023.
Like Visa, it offers global payment processing to individuals and businesses.
16. Aon PLC (AON)
Aon is an insurance broker providing insurance brokerage and risk advisory services to consulting and other professional service firms.
Berkshire Hathaway owned 4.33 million AON shares worth $1.5 billion, representing 0.43% of its portfolio.
The company has a market cap of $63.72 billion as of October 2023.
17. Paramount Global Class B (PARA)
Paramount Global is a media company that produces and distributes content through four segments: entertainment, cable networks, publishing, and local media. Some of its famous media brands are CBS Television Networks, digital streaming service CBS All Access, and book publisher Simon & Schuster.
Paramount Global Class B was first made into Berkshire Hathway’s holdings in 1Q 2022.
In June, it held 93.73 million PARA shares worth $1.49 billion.
18. Liberty Sirius XM Group Series C (LSXMK)
Liberty Sirius XM has significant ownership in radio, entertainment, and communications businesses. It has an 83% stake in satellite radio Sirius XM Group, full ownership of iconic global motorsport business, the Formula One Group, and a 30% stake in the world’s largest live entertainment firm, Live Nation Entertainment Inc.
Berkshire held 43.2 million shares of Liberty Sirius XM worth $1.41 billion.
19. Charter Communications (CHTR)
Charter Communications provides cable TV networks, internet, video-on-demand, and telephone services. It’s the fifth largest telecommunication network in the U.S. in terms of market capitalization, with $64.30 billion as of October 2023.
Berkshire Hathaway owns 3.83 million shares of Charter Communications at $1.41 billion.
20. Amazon.com (AMZN)
Berkshire Hathaway had built up its position as the world’s largest e-commerce company by market capitalization during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Buffett’s holdings in Amazon surged 1.878% to 10.55 million shares in Q1 2022 from just 533,300 in the final quarter of 2019 when COVID-19 emerged.
In June, Buffett owned 10.55 million AMZN shares worth $1.38 billion.
21. Capital One (COF)
Based in McLean, Virginia, Capital One is one of the largest retail banks in the U.S. It offers banking and savings accounts, auto loans, and credit cards.
Buffett started to invest in the American bank in Q1 2023, buying 9.92 million shares. He purchased 2.54 million Capital One shares in Q2 2023, bringing the total holding in the bank to 12.47 million shares, valued at $1.36 billion.
22. Activision Blizzard
The Santa Monica-based company is the second-largest video game developer in the U.S.
It made it into Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings in Q3 2021, when Buffett bought 16.5 million shares and increased his ownership to 68.4 million shares by Q2 2022. But Berkshire Hathaway has gradually reduced its holding since then.
By June 2023, Berkshire’s position in Activision had shrunk to 14.67 million shares valued at $1.24 billion.
23. Snowflake (SNOW)
Buffett made a surprise investment when he bought Snowflake’s stock, as it went against his investment philosophy. He bought shares of the Bozman-based cloud computing startup during an initial public offering (IPO), despite his reputation of avoiding IPO purchases.
Buffett held 6.13 million shares of Snowflake, valued at $1.08 billion.
Snowflake has a market capitalization of $48.68 billion as of October 2023.
24. General Motors
Berkshire Hathaway has reduced its position in the U.S. largest automaker in terms of revenue since Q4 2022 by a total of 56% at the end of Q2 2023.
In June, it held 22 million shares worth $848.32 million.
25. Nu Holdings
The Brazilian lender is one of the world’s largest digital banking. It provides digital financial services in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and globally.
Berkshire Hathaway initiated its position in the Sao Paolo-headquartered bank in Q4 2022, buying 107.12 million shares worth 845.17 million.
As of October 2023, Nu Holdings’ market capitalization is $38.74 billion.
What is Berkshire Hathaway?
Now that you know the top 25 Warren Buffett’s stocks, let’s take a step back and look at what is Berkshire Hathaway and how the world’s sixth richest person turned a failed textile company into a money machine with a market capitalization of $733.31 billion. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company is the eighth largest company in the world as of October 2023.
Berkshire Hathaway began as two separate cotton mills in Massachusetts, Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, and Hathaway Manufacturing, before merging in 1955. Buffett purchased the company ten years later when it was struggling to survive as New England’s textile industry was dying.
With Buffett at the helm as CEO, Berkshire continued to expand into a sprawling conglomerate, with businesses ranging from insurance, media, food, and beverages to healthcare and live entertainment.
Many of the businesses acquired by Berkshire Hathaway – partially or whole – were mired in financial trouble before they were turned into thriving and profitable entities.
Berkshire Hathaway Investment Strategy
While it is impossible to discuss every investment strategy Buffett employs that earns him the moniker of the Oracle of Omaha, there are some key tenets that he continues to adhere to.
Buffett is known as a value investor because he prefers to buy businesses over stocks. He is unconcerned about a company’s stock’s daily performance. Rather, how well the company is doing This entails reviewing the company as a whole, including its fundamentals such as profit margins and debt-to-equity ratio.
Buffett said in the 2022 annual letter:
“Please note, particularly, that we own publicly-traded stocks based on our expectations about their long-term business performance, not because we view them as vehicles for adroit purchases and sales. That point is crucial: Charlie and I are not stock-pickers; we are business-pickers.”
Buffett was referring to Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway’s vice chairman and long-time business partner. He credits Charlie, a real architect, with designing what is now Berkshire Hathaway’s business.
“From my perspective, though, Charlie’s most important architectural feat was the design of today’s Berkshire. The blueprint he gave me was simple: Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.”
The 93-year-old legendary investor favors companies that have consistently paid dividends over long periods of time, although Berkshire doesn’t pay dividends to their shareholders Instead, the company reinvests its earnings for growth so that shareholders can benefit from a higher Berkshire Hathaway share price.
Read on to learn about the top 25 Berkshire Hathaway holdings and some of the holding company’s largest positions.
The Bottom Line
Buffett’s most important investing strategy, as one of the world’s most prolific business pickers, is to buy high-quality companies that are leaders in their industries at a cost-effective cost and keep them for the long term.
When considering the purchase of a company’s shares, it is crucial to analyze the stock’s overall performance rather than fixate on its daily price movements. Conduct thorough research and due diligence to make an informed investment decision.
