Warren Buffett Bet on Modelo Beer Maker, Exited Ulta Beauty—How His Portfolio Changed in Q4 – Investopedia
Source: Investopedia
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) entered a new position in beer and spirits-maker Constellation Brands (STZ) in the fourth quarter of 2024, while trimming several stakes and exiting Ulta Beauty (ULTA).
After drastically slashing its stake in Apple (AAPL) throughout the year, Berkshire did not make any changes to that position in the last three months of the year, a Form 13-F filing by the company confirmed Friday. The iPhone maker remains Berkshire’s top holding, worth more than $75 billion, or roughly 28% of Berkshire’s portfolio.
Form 13-Fs are quarterly filings that only offer a snapshot of portfolios for large institutional money managers at the end of the quarter. This particular filing for Berkshire does not reflect any changes the company would have made since the end of December, nor does it shed light on any gains or losses from share sales.
Berkshire added 5.6 million shares of Constellation Brands, the maker of Modelo beer. The shares were worth $1.24 billion at the end of the year. Constellation Brands stock jumped more than 6% in extended trading Friday after the stake was made public.
Buffett’s company, which has been sitting on a record cash pile, put some of that $320 billion of dry powder to use. It bought more than 12 million shares of satellite radio provider Sirius XM (SIRI), and made a small addition to its stake in VeriSign Inc (VRSN).
Berkshire upped its Pool Corp. (POOL) holdings by nearly 50%, though it remains a relatively small $200 million stake. Berkshire also bought an additional 1.1 million shares in Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), nearly doubling its stake in the company, of which it now owns about 6.9%.
In the final three months of last year, Berkshire upped its stake in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) by almost 8.9 million shares. A separate filing earlier this month revealed Buffett added more in February, taking his total position in the energy company to 264.9 million shares.
Buffett and Berkshire are known for their long-term investments but last quarter closed some short-lived positions. The company exited its position in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) after buying into it in the second quarter and offloading more than 96% of its shares in the third quarter.
The only other positions Berkshire exited entirely last quarter were small investments in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and a Vanguard S&P 500 fund.
Buffett’s sale of Bank of America (BAC) shares made headlines last year and that trend continued last quarter. Berkshire offloaded another 117 million shares and now owns roughly 680 million shares, or nearly 9% of the bank.
And that’s not the only financial sector investment Buffett pulled back on. Berkshire sold 40 million shares in Citigroup (C), 46 million shares in digital banking platform Nu Holdings (NU), and 1.65 million shares in Capital One (COF). It also trimmed stakes in Charter Communications (CHTR), T-Mobile US (TMUS), and Louisiana Pacific (LPX).
A separate filing on Thursday revealed Berkshire pared its position in DaVita Inc. (DVA), selling roughly 200,000 shares this year, though it continues to own a nearly 45% stake in the healthcare company.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Berkshire Hathaway Q4 13-F Information Table.”
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Schedule 13G- Domino’s Pizza.”
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Form-4 Occidental Petroleum.”
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Schedule 13-G Bank of America.”
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