Berkshire Adds $500 Million to Apple Stake and Subtracts $1 Billion from Wal-Mart Holding

In a SEC 13F filing after the market closed on August 15, Berkshire Hathaway reported a 55% increase (about $500 million) in its Apple (AAPL) stake and a 27% reduction (about $1 billion) in its Wal-Mart (WMT) holding.   The Apple investment was likely made by Warren Buffett’s portfolio managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler.  Wal-Mart has been an investment of Warren Buffett since 2005.

There was also a $200 million reduction (26%) in Suncor Energy (SU) and a $100 million addition (18%) in Liberty Global Class A (LBTYA).  These are investments of Todd Combs or Ted Weschler.

I am quoted in a Bloomberg article on these portfolio changes:

“Apple’s stock came down substantially in the second quarter,” David Kass, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business who has taken students to meet Buffett, said in a phone interview. “Value investors always like the price to go down because it gives them an opportunity to buy more.”

Also,

“It’s a little bit of fine tuning,” said University of Maryland’s Kass. Buffett and his deputies “do not make many changes to their portfolio.”