Berkshire Hathaway’s overall position looked bearish in 2024’s third quarter
A quarterly Form 13-F filing has revealed that investment firm Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B), whose CEO is financial guru and billionaire Warren Buffett, has reduced its share position in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
In addition, Berkshire made two surprising additions to its portfolio: shares of fast-food restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) and swimming pool supplies company Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL).
This explains why shares of Domino’s Pizza and Pool Corp. both rallied 5% to 6% in premarket trading on Friday.
Less Apple, more pizza, hold the Coke
Not everything in Berkshire Hathaway’s third-quarter 2024 Form 13-F filing was a huge surprise. Notably, it revealed that Buffett’s company didn’t change its 400 million share position in Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) stock, which comprises 10.79% of Berkshire’s portfolio.
On the other hand, Buffett’s company slashed its previous 400 million share position in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25% to 300 million. Apple stock is still comfortably Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding, comprising 26.24% of the company’s portfolio.
Besides the sharp reduction in Buffett’s Apple stock position, the main surprises were new positions in Domino’s Pizza (1.3 million shares) and Pool Corp. (404,000 shares). Unsurprisingly, shares of both companies rose Friday morning.
Buffett’s firm still a net seller of stocks
Despite the additions of Domino’s Pizza and Pool Corp. shares, Berkshire Hathaway was a net seller of stocks during 2024’s third quarter.
Buffett’s company bought roughly $1.5 billion worth of stocks in the third quarter but sold around $36 billion worth of stocks. Some of this imbalance can be attributed to Berkshire Hathaway cutting its positions in Apple and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
Some investors might assume that Buffett’s net selling is a bearish statement on America’s economy. However, large-scale investors sell stocks for a variety of reasons.
In any case, Berkshire Hathaway’s new stakes in Domino’s Pizza and Pool Corp. will undoubtedly bring attention and investor interest to these two companies.
