Warren Buffett sheds big stakes in banks and goes for the gold
Legendary investor reduces Wells Fargo, JP Morgan holdings and takes a shine to gold
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unloaded a more than a quarter of its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. and about 61% of its position in JPMorgan Chase, while acquiring a new position in Barrick Gold Corp., according to 13-F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended Jun 30, that were released Friday afternoon.
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Berkshire's moves appeared to reflect a broad lightening of the conglomerates' exposure to large-capitalization banks during the worst public health crisis in generations.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK.A | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 703,137.50 | -215.25 | -0.03% |
| BRK.B | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 469.58 | +0.67 | +0.14% |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & CO. | 73.57 | +0.13 | +0.18% |
| JPM | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 240.77 | -2.29 | -0.94% |
Berkshire sold 85.6 million shares of Wells Fargo, representing about 26% of its stake and putting its ownership to about 3% from 5.3%.
The insurance conglomerate also shed 35.5 million shares of JPMorgan, 61% of its position, which now represents 1% of Berkshire's overall portfolio from 3% in the prior period.
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Meanwhile, the investment firm acquired nearly 21 million shares of Barrick Gold worth $563 million, representing 0.3% of Berkshire's holding. Berkshire also reduced its holding in PNC Financial Services (PNC), selling 3.85 million shares to cut its position to 0.3% from 0.5%.
Berkshire didn't change its holdings in Apple Inc. where the firm owns 245 million shares.
Large investors must disclose long stock positions held at the end of a quarter 45 days later in a 13-F filing with the SEC, which means such filings are merely a snapshot of an investor's holdings at a given point.
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Berkshire Class A and B shares are down by about 0.6% and 0.5% at Friday's close. Meanwhile, shares of Wells Fargo were down 0.8% in after-hours trade on Friday, JPMorgan shares edged 0.1% lower, while Barrick's stock was up 3.9% after Friday's closing bell.