"Tracking Tweedy Browne Portfolio – Q3 2015 Update"
"Tweedy Browne’s US long portfolio decreased from $3.62B to $3.36B this quarter.The largest five individual stock positions are Johnson & Johnson, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, Cisco Systems, and Halliburton and they account for around 40% of the US long portfolio.Baxalta Inc., MRC Global, and International Business Machines are the new stakes.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Tweedy Browne’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Tweedy Browne’s regulatory  filed on 11/13/2015. Please visit our  series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and our  for the fund’s moves during Q2 2015.This quarter, Tweedy Browne’s US long portfolio decreased 7.25% from $3.62B to $3.36B. The number of holdings increased from 47 to 49. The largest holding is Johnson & Johnson at 10.72% of the US long portfolio. Largest five individual stock positions are Johnson & Johnson, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, Cisco Systems, and Halliburton Company. Combined, they are at 39.98% of the portfolio. 34 of the 49 13F stakes reported are significantly large (over ~0.5% of the US long portfolio each) and they are the focus of this article.Tweedy Browne (TBGVX) (TWEBX) (TBHDX) (TBCUX) has released a number of  over the years and that is a valuable resource for anyone looking to learn from their investment philosophy.  The best known work is “” that was first released in 1992. Christopher Browne authored “”, a great introduction.New Stakes:Baxalta Inc. (BXLT): The 2.35% of the portfolio BXLT stake was established as a result of the spinoff of Baxalta from Baxter International that closed July 1st. Baxter shareholders received one share of BXLT for each share of Baxter held. The stock is now at $34.52.International Business Machines (IBM) and MRC Global (MRC): IBM is a 1.36% of the 13F portfolio position established this quarter at prices between $141 and $173. The stock currently trades below that range at $134. The 1.64% MRC stake was purchased at prices between $10.91 and $15.72 and the stock is now at $14.25.Note: Tweedy Browne controls ~4.8% of MRC.Stake Disposals:None.Stake Increases:None.Stake Decreases:Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B): Berkshire Hathaway is a very long-term stake that has been in the portfolio since before the financial crisis. It is currently their second-largest position at 8.31% of the US long portfolio. Back in 2009, it was a very small 0.60% of the portfolio position. The bulk of the current stake was purchased in 2010 and 2012 at prices between $65 and $90. The position was marginally reduced in the last six quarters. The stock currently trades at $133.Cisco Systems (CSCO): CSCO was a 2.2% of the US long portfolio position when first established in 2011. It is currently their fourth-largest stake at 7.68% of the US long portfolio. The bulk of the current position was purchased in 2012 at prices between $15.50 and $21. Since then, the stake was kept relatively steady although the last few quarters have seen minor reductions. The stock currently trades at $26.81.ConocoPhillips (COP): COP was a minutely small position in 2007. The majority of the current ~2.7M share position (3.89% of portfolio) was purchased in 2009 at prices between $37 and $55. The stock currently trades at $53.89. Last quarter saw a ~4% trimming at prices between $61 and $69.40 and this quarter saw a marginal further reduction.NOTE: The figures quoted above understate the actual performance of this position as there was a spin-off related price-drop. On May 1, 2012 COP had spun off Phillips 66 whereby COP shareholders received one share of Phillips 66 for every 2 shares of COP.Devon Energy (DVN): DVN is a fairly large 4.44% of the US long portfolio position. It has seen marginal reductions in the last six quarters. The bulk of the current stake was purchased in 2012 when around 2.2M shares were acquired at prices between $51 and $75. The stock currently trades below that range at $45.91. For investors attempting to follow Tweedy Browne, DVN is a good option to consider for further research.Emerson Electric (EMR): EMR is a long-term stake first purchased in 2008 and doubled the following year with a cost-basis in the low-30s. Around 40% of that original position was sold in 2010 in the low-50s price-range. It had since been kept relatively steady. Last quarter saw a ~13% reduction at prices between $55.43 and $61.78 and this quarter saw a marginal further reduction. The stock currently trades at $48.67.Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG is a fairly large 5.21% position first purchased in 2012 at much lower prices compared to the current trading price of $725. Last quarter saw a marginal increase while this quarter saw a very minor decrease. Tweedy Browne is sitting on huge long-term gains on this position.Halliburton Company (HAL): HAL is a large (top five) 5.58% of the portfolio stake. It was established in 2012 at prices between $27.80 and $38.50. The stock currently trades at $38.11. This quarter saw very minor selling.Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): JNJ is the largest position in the US long portfolio at 10.72%. It is a long-term stake that has been in the portfolio since before the financial crisis. The position was built up from 400K shares to just over 4.3M shares between 2009 and 2012 at prices between $48 and $72. Since then, the stake saw minor selling and that pattern continued this quarter: ~1.6% reduction. The share count is still at 3.86M shares. The stock currently trades at $102. Tweedy Browne is sitting on large long-term gains on this position.Verizon Communications (VZ): VZ is a small 2.14% of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2014 at prices between $48.40 and $52. In Q4 2014, the stake was increased by ~38% at prices between $45.42 and $51.50 and that was followed by a ~31% increase last quarter at prices between $46.61 and $50.55. This quarter saw a ~6% trimming. The stock currently trades just below their purchase price ranges at $45.08. For investors attempting to follow Tweedy Browne, VZ is a good option to consider for further research.Wells Fargo (WFC): WFC is the third-largest position at 7.69% of the US long portfolio. The initial stake was established in 2010 with the bulk of the current position purchased in 2011 at prices between $25 and $34. The stock currently trades at $54.96. This quarter saw a marginal decrease.3M Company (MMM), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), and Baxter International (BAX): These are medium-sized (less than ~5% of the US long portfolio) long-term stakes in the portfolio. MMM was first purchased in 2008 while BK & BAX stakes were established in 2010. The positions have seen very minor reductions in recent quarters. The long-term nature of these stakes indicates a bullish bias toward these businesses.American Express (AXP), American National Insurance (ANAT), Comcast Corporation (CMCSA), Diageo plc (DEO), MasterCard Inc. (MA), National Western Life (NWLI), Novartis AG (NVS), Philip Morris (PM), Phillips 66 (PSX), Torchmark Corporation (TMK), UniFirst Corporation (UNF), Unilever (UN) (UL), Union Pacific (UNP), & Wal-Mart Stores (WMT): These are small positions (less than 2% of the US long portfolio) that were reduced marginally this quarter. As the activities were very minor, they do not indicate a clear change in bias.Kept Steady:Coca Cola FEMSA (KOF), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and US Bancorp (USB): These are very small (less than ~1% of the US long portfolio each) stakes kept steady this quarter.Other minutely small (less than 0.5% of the US long portfolio each) positions in the portfolio include GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), HSBC Holdings (HSBC), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Total S A ADR (TOT), Brown & Brown (BRO), Connecticut Water Service (CTWS), General Electric (GE), Leucadia National (LUK), National Oilwell Varco (NOV), NOW Inc. (DNOW), Shenandoah Tel. (SHEN), and AGCO Corp. (AGCO). Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) were dropped while General Electric was added during the quarter.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Tweedy Browne’s US stock holdings in Q3 2015:"