Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway up stake in this healthcare company
'Oracle of Omaha' also buys into Chevron, E.W. Scripps but trims Apple holdings
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Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway company have upped their stake in DaVita Inc., a health care company specializing in kidney health and disease.
AMAZON-BERKSHIRE-JPMORGAN HEALTH CARE VENTURE, HAVEN, CLOSING IN FEBRUARY
According to a Feb. 12 regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire Hathaway's stake in DaVita now stands at 33% with a total of 36,095,570 shares. Berkshire Hathway remains DaVita's largest shareholder.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK.B | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 476.06 | +4.14 | +0.88% |
| DVA | DAVITA INC. | 165.50 | +1.34 | +0.82% |
The move comes after Berkshire Hathway sold 2 million shares of DaVita in September for $176 million, a per-share price of $88, and just four days after DaVita reported net income for the fourth quarter of $173.77 million, or $1.50 per share compared to $244.87 million, or $1.88 per share, a year ago.
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DaVita was not alone in getting the financial "thumbs up" from the "Oracle of Omaha."
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VZ | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 43.15 | +0.65 | +1.53% |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP. | 162.36 | +0.73 | +0.45% |
| SSP | THE E.W. SCRIPPS CO. | 2.10 | +0.13 | +6.60% |
A 13-F filing shows Berkshire Hathway now holds 147.6 million shares of telecommunications giant Verizon as of the end of 2020. The position is valued at around $8.6 billion and is the sixth-largest position in Berkshire's portfolio. Buffett's giant holding company also purchased 48.4 million shares of oil titant Chevron and 23.07 million shares of E.W. Scripps, the nation’s fourth-largest local TV broadcaster which also has several cable and digital video services in its portfolio.
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Berkshire also boosted its positions in pharmaceutical companies AbbiVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Merck, while selling off all of its shares in Pfizer.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABBV | ABBVIE INC. | 176.93 | +5.15 | +3.00% |
| BMY | BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO. | 58.87 | +0.64 | +1.10% |
| MRK | MERCK & CO. INC. | 99.16 | -0.67 | -0.67% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 25.63 | +0.49 | +1.97% |
The company also exited positions in JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial and trimmed its position in Wells Fargo by about 58%, selling 74.95 million shares.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 248.55 | +3.79 | +1.55% |
| PNC | THE PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP INC. | 210.03 | +4.33 | +2.11% |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & CO. | 75.96 | +1.13 | +1.51% |
It also trimmed its stake in Apple by 5.4% after selling 57.16 million shares.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 229.87 | +1.35 | +0.59% |
Apple still remains Berkshire Hathway's largest stock holding, with a total of 907,559,761 shares with a value of about $120 billion as of the end of 2020
Buffett also ended the investment in Barrick Gold Corp. Last August, the $500 million-plus investment raised plenty of eyebrows on Wall Street as Buffett has rarely been a booster of the precious metal.
No sooner did Buffett buy into the company, than its stock soared to a 7-year high. The stock for Barrick closed down fractionally Tuesday but is down more than 16% for the last three months.