Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Confirms Apple Stock Sale, Buys of Pfizer, Merck
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has confirmed that it trimmed holdings in Apple stock in the third quarter. The conglomerate also initiated positions in drug giants AbbVie, Pfizer, and Merck, and slashed its stake in JPMorgan Chase.
Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK.B ) disclosed the trades, among others, in a form it filed on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Barron’s reported earlier this month that Berkshire Hathaway had sold about 38 million shares of Apple (AAPL). The latest filing shows that Berkshire Hathaway sold 36.3 million shares in the quarter, in line with our report. It owned 944.3 million Apple shares as of Sept. 30.
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Berkshire Hathaway also disclosed that it owned 3.7 million Pfizer (PFE) shares, 22.4 million Merck (MRK) shares, and 21.3 million AbbVie (ABBV) shares as of the end of September. It hadn’t owned any of those companies at the end of June.
Buffett’s firm also sold 21.2 million JPMorgan shares, ending the third quarter with only 967,267 shares. The bank’s stock has slipped 16% so far this year.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
