Buffett's Largest Net Purchase Since Financial Crisis... Buys Chevron and Citigroup, Sells Wells Fargo and Bristol

Warren Buffett [Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Warren Buffett, the investment genius and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, made a net purchase of $41.5 billion worth of stocks in the first quarter of this year. This is the largest net purchase on a quarterly basis since the global financial crisis in 2008.

He put into practice his investment philosophy of "Be greedy when others are fearful." The New York Stock Exchange's S&P 500 index recorded a decline of 4.95% in the first quarter, marking its first quarterly drop in eight quarters. The decline widened in the second quarter, and as of the 16th (local time), the year-to-date drop stands at 15.9%.

According to Berkshire Hathaway's 13F report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on that day, Buffett newly purchased shares of Occidental Petroleum, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Citigroup, Paramount Global, and Ali Financial in the first quarter, and significantly increased holdings in Activision Blizzard, Chevron, and Formula One Group. On the other hand, he completely disposed of shares in AbbVie, Bristol Myers, and Wells Fargo.

The SEC requires institutional investors managing assets over $100 million to submit a 13F report detailing changes in holdings within 45 days after the end of each fiscal quarter.

In the first quarter, Berkshire Hathaway purchased 136,733,000 shares of Occidental, which accounts for 14.6% of Occidental's outstanding shares. Berkshire Hathaway displaced Vanguard, the largest U.S. asset management firm, to become the largest shareholder of Occidental. Vanguard's stake in Occidental is 10.9%.

Buffett also newly purchased more than 104.47 million shares of HP, securing an 11.4% stake.

He repurchased Citigroup shares for the first time in about 20 years. The number of shares held is approximately 55.15 million, representing a 2.8% stake. Berkshire Hathaway became the fourth largest shareholder after Vanguard (8.5%), BlackRock (8.3%), and State Street (4.7%).

On the other hand, Buffett completely disposed of Wells Fargo shares, which he had held for over 20 years since 2001. He had been steadily selling Wells Fargo shares since 2018 and sold all remaining approximately 670,000 shares in the first quarter.

Buffett also purchased about 68.94 million shares of Paramount Global in the first quarter, holding an 11.3% stake and becoming the largest shareholder. He also bought about 8.97 million shares of Ali Financial, becoming the fifth largest shareholder.

Buffett increased his Activision Blizzard shares by 338% from about 14.6 million shares at the end of last year. As of the end of the first quarter, the number of shares held rose to about 64.31 million. Holdings in Chevron and Formula One Group also surged by 316% and 264%, respectively.

He also increased shares in General Motors (GM) and Apple, but the growth rates were modest at 3% and 0.4%, respectively.

Shares in Verizon Communications were reduced by 99%, leaving only 138 shares.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.