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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.
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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 B | 245.28 | +2.82 | +1.16% |
| DVA | DAVITA | 103.96 | -0.94 | -0.90% |
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. | 54.15 | -0.05 | -0.09% |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP. | 93.06 | +0.49 | +0.53% |
| SSP | EW SCRIPPS | 17.57 | +0.06 | +0.34% |
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. | 104.23 | -0.30 | -0.29% |
| BMY | BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB | 59.40 | -0.59 | -0.98% |
| MRK | MERCK & CO. INC. | 74.25 | -0.75 | -1.00% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 34.68 | -0.06 | -0.17% |
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 | JP MORGAN CHASE & CO. | 144.67 | +3.37 | +2.38% |
| PNC | PNC FINL SVC | 169.87 | +7.41 | +4.56% |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & COMPANY | 34.77 | +1.25 | +3.73% |
It also trimmed its stake in Apple by 5.4% after selling 57.16 million shares.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 133.19 | -2.18 | -1.61% |
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.
