Berkshire boosts Goldman, Teva stakes; buys more Apple

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) boosted its investments in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) during the second quarter and confirmed it has expanded its already huge bet on iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL.O).

FILE PHOTO: Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, pauses while playing bridge as part of the company annual meeting weekend in Omaha, Nebraska U.S. May 6, 2018. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

The changes were disclosed on Tuesday in a regulatory filing detailing Berkshire’s U.S.-listed stock holdings as of June 30.

Investors closely watch Berkshire’s quarterly stock listings for signs about where Buffett and his investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler might see value.

The filings do not say which managers bought which stocks. Berkshire spent $6.08 billion on equities in the quarter.

Berkshire boosted its Goldman stake by 21 percent, owning roughly 13.3 million shares worth $2.92 billion on June 30, up from 11 million shares on March 31.

That stake had its origins in a profitable investment in Goldman preferred stock that Berkshire made during the 2008 financial crisis.

The Teva stake grew 7 percent to 43.25 million American depositary receipts worth about $1.05 billion. Teva’s ADRs rose 1.2 percent after market hours.

Berkshire also said its Apple stake swelled to about 252 million shares worth close to $47 billion, up 5 percent from 239.6 million shares three months earlier.

Berkshire owns roughly 5 percent of Apple, whose market value surpassed $1 trillion last week.

Buffett, who turns 88 on Aug. 30, often buys stock when he cannot find whole businesses to add to Berkshire’s stable of more than 90 companies in the insurance, energy, food and retail, industrial, railroad and other sectors.

The billionaire has gone 2-1/2 years since completing a major acquisition for Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire.

Several of the portfolio changes affected bank and airline stocks, reflecting Buffett’s usual policy not to own more than 10 percent of a company’s shares.

Berkshire said it sometimes exceeds the 10 percent cap when companies whose stock it owns repurchase their own shares, forcing it to sell some of its holdings.

Buffett does make exceptions, including for longtime holdings American Express Co (AXP.N) and dialysis company DaVita Inc (DVA.N).

In Tuesday’s filing, Berkshire reported higher stakes in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd (AXTA.N), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), General Motors Co (GM.N), Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA.O), Southwest Airlines Inc (LUV.N) and US Bancorp (USB.N).

It reported lower stakes in American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O), Charter Communications Inc (CHTR.O), Phillips 66 (PSX.N), United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), and no longer reported a stake in data analytics company Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK.O).

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler

(Original source)