Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought 17.9 million shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc. in the third quarter, while continuing to pare its stakes in Bank of America Corp. and Apple Inc., according to a regulatory filing.
The disclosure comes before Warren Buffett‘s 60-year run as chief executive officer ends.
In a filing on Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire said it owned 17.85 million Alphabet shares as of September 30, worth $4.9 billion as of Friday’s market close.
Meanwhile, Berkshire cut its stake in iPhone maker Apple to 238.2 million shares from 280 million in the third quarter, and sold nearly three-quarters of the more than 900 million shares it once held. Apple remained Berkshire’s largest stock holding, at $60.7 billion, as per a Reuters report.
Despite this, Apple Inc. accounts for almost a quarter of Berkshire’s equity portfolio.
The conglomerate also sold 37.2 million Bank of America shares, leaving it with a 7.7% stake in the Wall Street firm. The bank is still Berkshire’s third-largest stock holding.
Berkshire also exited its position in US home builder D.R. Horton Inc.
Buffett to step down as CEO
Buffett, 95, who is set to step down as chief executive at the end of the year, has been looking for opportunities to put Berkshire’s record $382 billion cash pile to work.
The Omaha-based conglomerate recently agreed to purchase Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s petrochemical unit for $9.7 billion and also acquired a $1.6 billion stake in UnitedHealth Group Inc.
(With inputs from agencies)
