Berkshire Hathaway disclosed late Monday that it bought Capital One Financial for the first time in the first quarter of 2023, while refining its exposure to bank stocks amid sector turmoil. COF stock rose Tuesday.
Berkshire Hathaway Added, Cut Bank Stocks
In Q1, the Warren Buffett-led company picked up roughly 9.9 million shares of Capital One worth more than $954 million, according to its latest 13F filing, released May 15. It also grew positions in Bank of America and Citigroup last quarter.
At the same time, Berkshire exited small remaining stakes in U.S. Bancorp and Bank of New York Mellon during the quarter, while lowering its position in Ally Financial .
The conglomerate dumped several bank stocks in recent years. Investing legend Buffett told CNBC that some banks were taking "dumb" risks and using deceptive accounting techniques.
Top Warren Buffett Stocks
In a volatile Q1, Berkshire Hathaway grew three of the top five stocks in its investment portfolio.
The company increased positions in Bank of America and Apple by 2% each, and in Occidental Petroleum by 8%, according to 13F filings tracked by whalewisdom.com.
However, Berkshire kept other top stock holdings, including Coca Cola and Kraft Heinz, steady.
Bank of America and Apple are the No. 1 and No. 2 stocks, respectively, in Berkshire's stock portfolio by number of shares. Coca Cola, Kraft Heinz and Occidental are ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, by that metric.
Apple is Berkshire's No. 1 stock by market value by far.
In Q1, Berkshire also grew a sizable position in HP by 15%.
Other Q1 Buys, Sells
During Q1, Buffett's Berkshire also sold its entire stake in chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor and in luxury retailer RH. It slashed positions in Chevron, General Motors and other stocks. Overall, the company was a net seller of stocks last quarter, to the tune of some $10 billion, it has previously reported.
Taiwan Semiconductor is a leading Apple chip supplier. The TSM stock exit had previously been disclosed. Berkshire first bought the chipmaking giant in Q3 2022. But Buffett, an admirer of TSM, has grown wary of tensions between China and Taiwan.
RH, formerly Restoration Hardware, could be vulnerable in a looming recession.
In Q1, Berkshire added a position in Diageo and opened one in Vitesse Energy.
Diageo, based in London, owns liquor brands like Bailey's, Smirnoff and Guinness. Vitesse offers exposure to the oil and gas industry without actually operating wells.
Notably, the Q1 increases in Berkshire's stakes in Apple, Bank of America, HP, Citigroup and a few other companies, as well as its new position in Diageo, came via a reporting change rather than additional purchases. Starting in Q1, the conglomerate began reporting shares owned by a subsidiary, New England Asset Management, as part of its own holdings, according to a Berkshire news release.
COF Stock Rises, RH Stock Sinks
Shares of Capital One Financial gained 2.1% to 90.96 on the stock market today. COF stock met resistance Tuesday at the downward-sloping 50-day moving average.
RH stock tumbled 8.8% Tuesday but TSM stock edged up 0.3%. Bank stocks BK and USB lost around 3% each.
AAPL stock closed flat, near 172, Tuesday. BAC stock shed 1.1% to 27.35.
Class-B shares of Berkshire Hathaway nudged up 0.1% to 323.86.
