According to top 10 holdings statistics, a Premium feature of GuruFocus, the top five holdings of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) fourth-quarter 13F equity portfolio produced mixed results during the first two months of 2023. While Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) and American Express Co. (AXP, Financial) had strong gains, Chevron Corp. (CVX, Financial) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO, Financial) tumbled.
Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) said in his 2022 shareholder letter that the Omaha, Nebraska-based insurance conglomerate divides its investments into two categories: businesses that Berkshire itself controls and publicly traded stocks through which Berkshire passively owns pieces of businesses. Buffett added that he and co-chairman Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio) are “business-pickers” instead of stock-pickers: Berkshire seeks to make “meaningful” investments in businesses with both favorable growth prospects and trustworthy management teams.
As of December 2022, the top five holdings in Berkshire’s $299.01 billion 13F equity portfolio were Apple, Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Financial), Chevron Corp. (CVX, Financial), Coca-Cola and American Express.
Investors should be aware 13F filings do not give a complete picture of a firm’s holdings as the reports only include its positions in U.S. stocks and American depository receipts, but they can still provide valuable information. Further, the reports only reflect trades and holdings as of the most-recent portfolio filing date, which may or may not be held by the reporting firm today or even when this article was published.
Apple
Berkshire owns 895,136,175 shares of Apple (AAPL, Financial), giving the position 38.90% equity portfolio weight. During the fourth quarter, the insurance conglomerate added 333,856 shares, boosting the position by 0.04%. Apple has been Berkshire’s top holding since December 2017; the position had a total value of approximately $116.3 billion at the end of 2022.
Shares of Apple traded around $147.96, showing the stock is modestly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.86 as of Monday. The stock has gained approximately 14.92% year to date.
The Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics giant has a GF Score of 97 out of 100 based on a rank of 10 out of 10 for growth and profitability, a financial strength rank of 6 out of 10 and a rank of 7 out of 10 for momentum and GF Value.
Apple’s profitability ranks 10 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a five-star business predictability rank and an operating margin that has increased by approximately 2.70% per year on average over the past five years and outperforms approximately 97% of global competitors.
American Express
Berkshire owns 151,610,700 shares of American Express (AXP, Financial), giving the position 7.49% equity portfolio weight.
Shares of American Express traded around $173.78, showing the stock is fairly valued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.93 as of Monday. The stock has gained approximately 18.89% over the past two months.
Berkshire said that its annual dividend payments from American Express increased from $41 million in 1995 to $302 million in 2022. At year end, the investment was valued at around $22.4 billion, making it the insurance conglomerate’s fifth-largest holding.
The New York-based credit card company has a GF Score of 81 out of 100 based on a growth rank of 8 out of 10, a momentum rank of 7 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 4 out of 10 and a rank of 6 out of 10 for GF Value and profitability.
American Express’ growth ranks 8 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a five-star business predictability rank and a three-year revenue per share growth rate that outperforms approximately 66% of global competitors.
Bank of America
Berkshire owns 1,010,100,606 shares of Bank of America (BAC, Financial), giving the position 11.19% equity portfolio weight. The position has ranked No. 2 in terms of Berkshire’s top holdings since September 2018. At year end, the position was valued at approximately $33.45 billion.
Shares of Bank of America traded around $34.38, showing the stock is modestly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.90 as of Monday. The stock has gained approximately 3.88% year to date.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank has a GF Score of 75 out of 100 based on a rank of 7 out of 10 for momentum and GF Value, a profitability rank of 6 out of 10, a growth rank of 5 out of 10 and a financial strength rank of 3 out of 10.
Chevron
Berkshire owns 162,975,771 shares of Chevron (CVX, Financial), giving the position 9.78% equity portfolio weight. The stock represents the insurance conglomerate’s third-largest holding as of December 2022 with a total value of approximately $29.25 billion.
Shares of Chevron traded around $162.52, showing the stock is modestly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.84 as of Monday. The stock tumbled approximately 8.53% year to date.
The San Ramon, California-based energy giant has a GF Score of 87 out of 100 based on a financial strength rank of 9 out of 10, a growth rank of 8 out of 10, a momentum rank of 6 out of 10 and a rank of 7 out of 10 for GF Value and profitability.
Coca-Cola
Berkshire owns 400 million shares of Coca-Cola (KO, Financial), giving the position 8.51% equity portfolio weight.
Shares of Coca-Cola traded around $59.82, showing the stock is fairly valued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.92 as of Monday. The stock tumbled approximately 5.68% over the past two months.
Berkshire said that its annual dividend payments from Coca-Cola increased from $75 million in 1994 to $704 million in 2022. At year end, the investment was valued at $25.44 billion, making it the insurance conglomerate’s fourth-largest holding.
The Atlanta-based beverage giant has a GF Score of 83 out of 100 based on a profitability rank of 8 out of 10, a momentum rank of 7 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 5 out of 10 and a rank of 6 out of 10 for GF Value and growth.
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