11 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying or Selling


Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, $205.83), wasn’t kidding when he said he couldn’t get enough bites of Apple’s (AAPL) stock.
The Oracle of Omaha added to Berkshire Hathaway’s already hefty stake in the iPhone maker during the three months ended June 30. Apple has since gone on to become the first U.S. company to top $1 trillion in market value.
Buffett has made his ardor for Apple well-known, but the world’s greatest value investor made a number of other noteworthy moves in the second quarter, according to a new 13F regulatory filing. (Large investors such as Berkshire are required to disclose their holdings to the Securities and Exchange Commission every three months.)
The big picture remains the same. Buffett is, as always, bullish.
In total, Berkshire spent $6.1 billion on stocks in the second quarter. And since it can be instructive to see what Buffett has been up to, we took a closer look at what Berkshire has been buying and selling. Keep in mind that bigger investments are thought to be made by Warren Buffett himself, while smaller positions are believed to be handled by lieutenants Ted Weschler and Todd Combs.
With that caveat in mind, here are the most notable recent changes to Berkshire Hathaway’s stock holdings.
Disclaimer
Data is as of Aug. 14, 2018. Sources: Berkshire Hathaway’s SEC Form 13F filed Aug. 14, 2018, for the reporting period ended June 30, 2018; Fintel Financial Intelligence; S&P Global Market Intelligence; CNBC's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Apple
- Action: Added to stake
- Shares held: 252 million (+5% from Q1)
- Value: $52.8 billion
Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in Apple (AAPL, $209.75) by more than 5% in the second quarter, purchasing more than 12 million additional shares.
Under Buffett’s watch, Berkshire has amassed 5.2% of Apple’s shares outstanding, making it the technology giant’s third-largest stockholder after Vanguard Group and BlackRock (BLK), according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
And don’t expect Uncle Warren to stop there. “I’d love to own 100% of it,” he told CNBC on May 7. Buffett sees value in Apple even after topping a trillion dollars in market capitalization. “We like very much the economics of their activities. We like very much the management and the way they think.”

Goldman Sachs
- Action: Added to stake
- Shares held: 13.3 million (+21% from Q1)
- Value: $3 billion
Warren Buffett bought another 2.3 million shares in Goldman Sachs (GS, $229.56), raising Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in the Wall Street investment bank by 21%.
Berkshire first picked up its stake in Goldman Sachs during the 2008 financial crisis. Buffett paid $5 billion for preferred shares and warrants to purchase common stock. The preferred shares came with a dividend yield of 10%. Goldman redeemed its preferred shares in 2011. Berkshire bought another $2 billion in Goldman stock when it exercised the warrants in 2013.
Buffett has parlayed the original investment into a 3.5% stake in Goldman Sachs worth $3 billion. And Berkshire is now the bank’s fourth-largest shareholder.

Teva Pharmaceutical
- Action: Added to stake
- Shares held: 43.2 million (+6.7% from Q1)
- Value: $956.7 million
Berkshire Hathaway continues to be bullish on Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA, $22.12). The company upped its holdings in the Israeli drug manufacturer by 6.7%, or 2.7 million shares, in the most recent quarter.
Remember: Berkshire Hathaway more than doubled its stake in Teva in the first three months of 2018. The additional investment has Berkshire’s stake in Teva worth close to a billion dollars.
Teva’s stock trades at just 8 times estimated earnings, which Buffett apparently regards as a bargain. Berkshire Hathaway now owns 4.3% of Teva’s shares outstanding, making it the drugmaker’s third-largest stockholder.

Delta Air Lines
- Action: Added to stake
- Shares held: 63.7 million (+18.8% from Q1)
- Value: $3.5 billion
Warren Buffett continues to be bullish on at least some players in the airline industry. (More to come on this later.) Berkshire bought another 10.1 million shares in Delta Air Lines (DAL, $30.43), upping its stake by 18.8%.
Berkshire’s holdings in the carrier are worth $3.5 billion. Buffett began investing in Delta and several other airlines in 2016 after decades of shunning the industry.
It has been quite a reversal. Berkshire Hathaway is now Delta Air Lines' top shareholder. It owns 63.7 million shares, or 9.2%, of DAL’s shares outstanding.

Southwest Airlines
- Action: Added to stake
- Shares held: 56.5 million (+18.7% from Q1)
- Value: $3.3 billion
Buffett’s attitude toward airline stocks may have made a stunning reversal over the past few years, but he’s still picky. Of his four original big bets in the business, only Delta and Southwest Airlines (LUV, $59.09) received continued votes of confidence in the second quarter.
Buffett raised Berkshire’s stake in Southwest by 18.7%, according to regulatory filings. Berkshire is now the carrier’s second-largest shareholder with 56.5 million, or 9.9%, of all shares outstanding.
As we’ll see later, Berkshire’s other airline industry stocks — American Airlines (AAL) and United Continental Holdings (UAL) — didn’t get much love in the second quarter.

U.S. Bancorp
- Action: Added to stake
- Shares held: 100.7 million (+11% from Q1)
- Value: $5.4 billion
Warren Buffett bought another 9.8 million shares in U.S. Bancorp (USB, $53.17) in the second quarter. Berkshire Hathaway is the regional bank’s third-largest shareholder with 6.2% of all shares outstanding. Its 100.7 million shares, an increase of 11% from the previous quarter, is worth $5.4 billion.
Buffett is notoriously tight-lipped about U.S. Bancorp, Barron’s notes, but the lender has consistently generated the highest returns among the top 10 banks, which helps explain its appeal.
Gerard Cassidy, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, tells Barron’s that U.S. Bancorp deserves a place as an anchor in a portfolio of bank stocks.

Other Notable Moves
- American Airlines (AAL, $37.09): Pared stake by 2.8% to 44.7 million shares worth $1.7 billion.
- United Continental (UAL, $81.44): Pared stake by 3.7% to 26.7 million shares worth $2.2 billion.
- Phillips 66 (PSX, $120.94): Pared stake by 24% to 34.7 million shares worth $4.2 billion.
- Wells Fargo (WFC, $58.07): Pared stake by 1% to 452 million shares worth $26.2 billion.
- Charter Communications (CHTR, $34.47): Pared stake by 8.7% to 7.5 million shares worth $2.3 billion.

Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the august publication full time in 2016.
A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of SmartMoney, MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, InvestorPlace and DailyFinance. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Consumer Reports, Senior Executive and Boston magazine, and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among other publications. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and hosted a weekly video segment on equities.
Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.
In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities, funds, macroeconomics, demographics, real estate, cost of living indexes and more.
Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.
Disclosure: Dan does not trade stocks or other securities. Rather, he dollar-cost averages into cheap funds and index funds and holds them forever in tax-advantaged accounts.
-
Six Steps to Take if You've Recently Inherited Money From a Loved One
It’s important to deal with the emotional aspect first before tackling the financial one.
By Kiplinger Advisor Collective Published
-
Alaska Airlines to Buy Hawaiian: Get Bonus Miles Now
How to use the Alaska Airlines credit card and frequent flyer program to save on trips to Hawaii, Alaska and beyond.
By Ellen Kennedy Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle, Apple Reclaims $3 Trillion Market Cap Mark
Apple quietly reclaimed the $3 trillion market cap level Tuesday amid a choppy day for the main indexes.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Keep Climbing After Latest Inflation Data
While the main indexes gained ground on a welcome producer price index report, Target surged after disclosing an unexpected Q3 profit.
By Karee Venema Published
-
6 Best Books on Investing
investing Those looking to build their wealth should consider these best books on investing.
By Coryanne Hicks Published
-
What Is Common Stock?
Common stock allows for big returns – but owning it also comes with risk. Here, we look at what common stock is and dive into its pros and cons.
By Will Ashworth Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Soar After Weak October Jobs Report
Mega-cap stock Apple fell after earnings, but softer-than-anticipated jobs data gave bulls the upper hand Friday.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Jumps 564 Points Ahead of October Jobs Report
The main indexes carved out a fourth straight win Thursday on hope the Fed is done raising interest rates.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Soars 511 Points After McDonald's Earnings
All three indexes notched impressive gains Monday ahead of a jam-packed week on Wall Street.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Joins Nasdaq in Correction Territory
The Nasdaq managed to hold higher into the close thanks to a strong earnings reaction for mega-cap stock Amazon.
By Karee Venema Published