Over the same three months ended June 30, Berkshire boosted its stake in Apple Inc., buying 5.4 million shares, bringing the its stake in the iPhone maker to 15.2 million shares worth $1.46 billion.
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Buffett’s firm maintained its stake in pipeline company Kinder Morgan of 26.5 million shares, however, amid a almost 5 percent gain in the company’s stock price.
The Apple investment raises eyebrows because Buffett has always been reluctant to invest in technology companies.
Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola, IBM, and American Express were the other top holdings, and no additional shares were bought or sold.
The quarterly filings don’t disclose who is managing Berkshire’s Apple investments, and Berkshire officials don’t generally comment on the filings. He has said that investments of less than $1 billion are likely to be the work of Ted Weschler or Todd Combs, who each handle about $9 billion for Berkshire.
It also reflected Berkshire’s more than 14 percent stake in oil refiner Phillips 66 (PSX.N). Berkshire also cut stakes in Wal-Mart (WMT) and Deere (DE).
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– Increasing its Liberty Global PLC stake to 30.7 million shares from 23.8 million. Its segments include GEICO, General Re Corporation (General Re), Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group (BHRG), Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC (BNSF), Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Manufacturing, McLane Company, Service and retailing, and Finance and financial products.
