Warren Buffett, chief executive of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, had a busy Q4 2020, where he gained holdings in four new companies, increased his stake in six companies, reduced in six, and exited from four entirely.
Of the four new stakes, the biggest was in Verizon, the US telecommunications giant, where Buffett purchased $8.6bn of shares, instantly taking up 3.2% of Berkshire Hathaway’s total equity portfolio value.
“Whether we are in an expansion or a contraction, consumers’ internet and mobile plans may be the last thing they're willing to give up when times get tough,” a Raymond James research analyst said with regards to this to Kiplinger, a business forecast publisher.
The same was true of another stake increase, this time in T-Mobile US, another wireless communications company where Buffet more than doubled his share from Q3 2020, boosting it by 117% in Q4.
Although Berkshire Hathaway still remains Apple’s third largest shareholder, it dropped its holding in the tech giant by 6% to a value of $118bn. However, even after shedding 57.2m shares, it still accounts for nearly 44% of Berkshire’s total stock portfolio.
In addition, having entered Pfizer’s stock in Q3, Buffett swiftly left and sold all his shares by the end of 2020.
