"Tracking Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio – Q4 2014 Update"
"Warren Buffett's US long stock portfolio increased marginally from $108.41B to $109.37B this quarter.Berkshire Hathaway's largest three holdings are at over half the entire portfolio.Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased Charter Communications and Deere & Company while dropping Exxon Mobil.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Berkshire Hathaway’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Warren Buffett’s regulatory  filed on 02/17/2015. Please visit our  article series for an idea on how his holdings have progressed over the years and  highlighting the moves during Q3 2014.During Q4 2014, Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) (BRK.B) US long stock portfolio increased marginally from $108.41B to $109.37B.  The top-five positions account for over two-thirds of the portfolio: Wells Fargo (23.23%), Coca Cola (15.44%), American Express (12.90%), International Business Machines (11.29%), and Wal-Mart (4.74%). There are 45 individual stock positions many of which are minutely small compared to the overall size of the portfolio.() are a treasure trove of information and are a very good source for anyone starting out on individual investing.New stakes:Restaurant Brands International (QSR): QSR is a 0.30% of the US long portfolio position established this quarter at prices between $35 and $42. The stock currently trades at $41. The stock started trading in December following a merger/rename transaction between Tim Hortons and Burger King Worldwide - QSR has already increased ~20% since the first day of trading (12/10/2014). There was heavy activist involvement previously and the latest filing show Bill Ackman directly owning 38M shares (18.80% of business). Berkshire’s stake in the business is at around 4.2%.Twenty First Century Fox (FOXA): FOXA is a minutely small 0.17% of the US long portfolio stake established this quarter at prices between $31.77 and $39.01. The stock currently trades near the middle of that range at $35.06.Stake Disposals:Exxon Mobil (XOM): XOM was a fairly large 3.57% of the US long portfolio stake as of last quarter. The position was first purchased in Q2 2013 but Buffett avoided disclosing it until Q4 2013 by making use of the “”. The original stake was a 3.85% of the US long portfolio position established at prices between $86 and $93. In Q3 2013, the position was increased by ~28% at prices between $86.42 and $95.20. This quarter, the entire position was eliminated at prices between $86.41 and $96.81. The stock currently trades at $93.05.ConocoPhillips (COP) & Express Scripts Holdings (ESRX): These were minutely small 0.03% of the US long portfolio stakes as of last quarter. The positions were eliminated this quarter.Stake Increases:Charter Communications (CHTR): CHTR is a 0.94% of the US long portfolio position. It was established in Q2 2014 at prices between $118 and $158 and more than doubled last quarter at prices between $151 and $164. This quarter saw a further ~25% increase at prices between $140 and $170. The stock currently trades outside those ranges at around $176.Deere & Company (DE): DE stake was first purchased in Q3 2012 when around 4M shares were purchased at prices between $75.11 and $82.70. The position remained steady until last quarter when an additional ~3.6M shares were purchased at prices between $82 and $91.38 - Berkshire avoided disclosing DE stake in Q3 2014 by making use of the “”. This quarter, the position was increased by another 125% at prices between $80 and $91. The stock currently trades at $89.92. Buffett controls ~4.9% of the business.MasterCard Inc. (MA), Precision Castparts (PCP), Viacom (VIAB), & Visa Inc. (V): These are very small (less than ~0.60% of the US long portfolio each) stakes that were increased significantly this quarter. MA position was increased by ~15% at prices between $69.78 and $89.08 and the stock currently trades at $87.52. PCP stake was increased by ~37% at prices between $218 and $243 and the stock currently trades below that range at $206. VIAB position was increased by ~12% at prices between $68.20 and $77.27 and the stock currently trades near the low end of that range at $69.34. V stake was increased by ~17% at prices between $200 and $268 and the stock currently trades just outside that range at $271.Suncor Energy (SU): SU is a small 0.65% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in Q2 2013 at prices between $27.40 and $32. It was increased by ~27% in Q2 2014 at prices between $34.96 and $43.17. The position was increased by another ~12% last quarter at prices between $36.12 and $43.10 and a further ~21% this quarter at prices between $26.90 and $36.15. The stock currently trades at $31.67.DaVita Inc. (DVA):  DVA is a 2.67% of the US long portfolio position that was aggressively built-up over several quarters: the original stake was doubled in Q1 2012, increased by over 50% in Q2 2012, 24% in Q4 2012, and an additional 16% in Q1 2013. There has been marginal buying since. The bulk of the stake build-up happened at prices between $30 and $49. The stock currently trades at around $72.78. In May 2013, Berkshire’s Ted Weschler signed an accord with DVA, limiting open-market purchases to 25% of the company- the position is currently at 17.9% of the business.DIRECTV (DTV):  DTV is a 2.49% position first purchased in Q3 2011. The bulk of the current stake was purchased in Q4 2011 at prices between $40.60 and $47.87. In Q2 2014, the position was reduced by around one-third at prices between $74 and $88.25. Last quarter, the pattern reversed: a ~28% stake increase at prices between $83.55 and $87.72 and that was followed with a ~5% increase this quarter at prices between $82.56 and $87.89. The stock currently trades at around $87.47. AT&T (T) is in the process of acquiring DTV in a $95 per share cash-and-stock deal ($28.50 per share cash). Berkshire’s cost-basis is at around $45.General Motors (GM):  GM is a 1.31% of the US long portfolio position that was first purchased in Q1 2012 at prices between $21 and $30. The stake was increased by 60% in Q2 2013 at prices between $27.53 and $35.03.  Q1 2014 saw a 25% reduction at prices between $34 and $41 and in the following quarter there was an about-turn: 9.86% increase at prices between $31.93 and $37.09. Last quarter saw another ~21% increase at prices between $31.94 and $37.97 and this quarter saw a marginal increase. The stock currently trades at $37.24.International Business Machines (IBM): IBM is Buffett’s fourth-largest stake at 11.29% of the portfolio. The original stake was purchased in Q3 2011 at prices between $157.54 and $185.21. Since then, the position size has gone up by over 30% through periodic purchases. Last four quarters have seen minor buying and the stock currently trades at $161. Berkshire’s cost-basis on IBM is at around $170. Buffett is very bullish on IBM and controls ~7.8% of the business. For investors attempting to follow Buffett, IBM is a very good option to consider for further research.Phillips 66 (PSX): The 2% of the US long portfolio PSX stake as of Q4 2013 was reduced to a 0.71% stake in Q1 2014 at prices between $70.67 and $80.35. The position was further reduced by one-third the following quarter at prices between $76.69 and $86.33. The position has wavered since: a minor decrease last quarter and a minor increase this quarter. The stock currently trades at $76.90. Berkshire’s cost-basis on PSX is at around $32.Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA) (LBTYK): The minutely small 0.25% position in Liberty Global established in Q4 2013 at prices between $37.50 and $44.50 (adjusted for the 03/2014 stock-split) was increased significantly to a 0.57% position in Q1 2014 at prices between $40.37 and $46. The stake was further increased by ~17% in the following quarter at prices between $38.49 and $45.61. Last two quarters have also seen marginal buying. The stock currently trades at $52.88 and the stake is at 0.82% of the US long portfolio.Stake Decreases:Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK):  BK is a 0.82% of the US stock portfolio stake. The bulk of the original position was purchased in Q2 2012 at prices between $19.51 and $24.67. The stake was increased by 30% in Q2 2013 at prices between $26.70 and $30.55 and since then has been kept relatively steady. Last two quarters have seen a combined ~11% reduction at prices between $35.95 and $41.53. The stock currently trades at $39.46.National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV):  NOV is a minutely small 0.32% of the US long portfolio stake.  The original position was established in Q2 2012 at prices between $60 and $80.67. It was increased by ~19% in Q2 2013 at prices between $64.14 and $71.57. Last three quarters have seen a combined ~40% reduction at prices between $61.55 and $86.43. The stock currently trades at $55.13.NOTE: The implied performance of this position by the prices quoted above is negatively skewed because of the effect of National Oilwell Varco’s NOW Inc. spinoff. The terms called for NOV shareholders to receive one share of DNOW for every four shares of NOV held.Kept Steady:Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC):  WFC is Buffett’s largest stake at 23.23% of the US long portfolio, well ahead of Coca Cola (KO) which is at 15.44%. The last significant purchases happened in Q2 2013 when over 18M shares were purchased at prices between $34.66 and $38.20 and Q1 2013 when ~5M shares were purchased at prices between $36.27 and $41.56. The stock currently trades at $55.37. Berkshire’s average cost-basis is at around $24.55.American Express (AXP), Coca Cola (KO), and Procter & Gamble (PG):  These are very large stakes that were kept steady during the last two years. Buffett has said these positions will be held “permanently”. Berkshire’s cost-basis on AXP, KO, and PG are at around $8.49, $3.25, and $6.40 respectively.Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI): CBI is a 0.57% of the US long portfolio position that was increased by 47% in Q2 2013 at prices between $50.92 and $63.75. Last quarter saw a 12% stake increase at prices between $65.51 and $87.65. The original position was purchased in Q1 2013 at prices between $46 and $62. The stock currently trades well below those ranges at $40.79.  Berkshire controls 9.9% of the business. For investors attempting to follow Berkshire, CBI is a very good option to consider for further research.Goldman Sachs (GS): GS is 2.24% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q4 2013. Berkshire Hathaway received $5B worth of warrants to buy GS stock during the financial crisis (October 2008) at a strike price of $115 (43.5M shares) that was to expire October 1, 2013. Buffett exercised the right before expiry to start this long position. GS currently trades at $190.Liberty Media (LMCA) (LMCK): LMCA is a petite 0.39% stake first purchased in Q4 2011. It was increased by ~75% in Q1 2012 and roughly doubled the next quarter. Q2 2014 saw a ~24% stake reduction.Note: The share count for Liberty Media in the spreadsheet has increased two-times since Q2 2014 because the company distributed two shares of Series C common stock (LMCK) for each share of Series A common stock held during the quarter. Also, Liberty Broadband Corporation was spun-off from Liberty Media last quarter.Moody’s Inc. (MCO):  MCO is a 2.16% of the US long portfolio stake that was decreased by 14% in Q2 2013 at prices between $52.23 and $68.62. The stock currently trades at $98.08. Buffett’s cost basis is just over $10 and so he is sitting on large long-term capital gains on this position. The stock returned around 48% in 2013 and another 23% in 2014. Berkshire controls 11.5% of the business.US Bancorp (USB): USB, a 3.29% stake has been in the portfolio since 2006. The position was tripled during the 2007-2009 timeframe and since then was reduced by around 15% overall as of EOY 2012. In Q2 2013, ~17M shares were purchased at prices between $32.27 and $36.15. Berkshire’s cost-basis on USB is ~$31 and the stock is trading well above that price at $45.07. Buffett controls 4.4% of the business.USG Corporation (USG):  USG is a very long-term holding and there was a significant 21.39M share stake increase in Q4 2013 due to conversion of notes at $11.40 per share - Berkshire acquired the convertible notes during the financial crisis (2/2009) and USG opted to redeem them on 12/16/2013. Q2 2014 saw a ~11.5% stake increase at prices between $29.57 and $33.16. The stock currently trades at $29.44. Buffett controls around 27% of the business.Verisign Inc. (VRSN): VRSN was first purchased in Q4 2012 at prices between $34.15 and $49.48. The position was more than doubled in Q1 2013 to a 0.45% position at prices between $38 and $48 and was again increased by one-third the following quarter at prices between $44.39 and $49.27. Q1 & Q2 2014 also saw a combined ~17% increase at prices between $47 and $63. The stock currently trades at $62.16. The current position is at ~10% of the business although as a percentage of the portfolio the stake is still very small at 0.68%.Verizon Communications (VZ): VZ is a small 0.64% of the US long portfolio position established in Q1 2014 at prices between $46 and $49.30. It was increased by ~36% in the following quarter at prices between $45.94 and $50.05. The stock currently trades at $49.18.Wal-Mart Stores (WMT):  WMT stake was first purchased in 2005. It has since been built up to a 4.74% position (top-five stake). The position was increased by 4% in Q1 2013 at prices between $68 and $75 and was again increased by 17% in Q1 2014 at prices between $72.66 and $78.91. The stock currently trades well outside those ranges at $85.96. Berkshire’s average cost-basis on the position is at around $54.Costco Wholesale (COST), General Electric (GE), Graham Holdings (GHC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Kraft Foods Group (KRFT), Lee Enterprises (LEE), M&T Bank (MTB), Media General (MEG), Mondelez International (MDLZ), NOW Inc. (DNOW), Sanofi (SNY), Torchmark Corporation (TMK), United Parcel Service (UPS), Verisk Analytics (VRSK), & Wabco Holdings (WBC): These are minutely small positions (less than ~0.5% of the portfolio each) kept steady this quarter. Although the relative sizes of the positions are small, it should be noted that Berkshire controls 6.6% of Wabco and 3.6% of Media General. The DNOW position was established in Q2 2014 as a result of National Oilwell Varco’s spin-off of its distribution business. Also, per the , Berkshire has a $1.75B position in Sanofi - so in addition to the 13F securities listed in the spreadsheet, Berkshire also owns Sanofi securities listed in Euronext Paris. Other large non-US individual stock positions reported in the AR were Munich RE and Tesco plc (TSCDY). In October 2014, a regulatory filing indicated that Berkshire’s TSCDY ownership has dropped below 3%.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Berkshire Hathaway’s US stock holdings in Q4 2014:NOTE 1: Stake reduction in Tesco PLC, Source: (will have to check London regulatory website (?) for the actual filing - one related article quoted the source as  which has Tesco’s announcement on 10/16/2014) : LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway  has reduced its holdings of Tesco PLC  shares, according to a filing released on Thursday. Berkshire Hathwaway now owns less than 3% of the U.K. supermarket chain, down from around 4%, which was the fourth largest stake in Tesco. The sale comes after Tesco revealed in September a 250 million-pound ($400 million) accounting issue. Buffett has since said he made a "huge mistake" by investing in the company. Tesco shares were down 0.9% in London on Thursday.Note: The comments indicated some confusion regarding the very small stakes. I replied saying I will include the very small stakes as well in the spreadsheet from the next iteration. So, plan to do this for Q4 2014 Update. It would involve updating the Q3 2014 portion in the spreadsheet as well…"