"Tracking Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio – Q3 2015 Update"
"Berkshire Hathaway's 13F stock portfolio increased from $109.57B to $127.41B this quarter.Warren Buffett's largest three holdings are at ~50% of the entire portfolio.Berkshire Hathaway increased Phillips 66 and General Motors while dropping Viacom during the quarter.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 11/16/2015. Please visit our  article series for an idea on how his holdings have progressed over the years and  highlighting the moves during Q2 2015.During Q3 2015, Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) (BRK.B) US long stock portfolio increased 16.27% from $109.57B to $127.41B. The increase is primarily due to the large stake in Kraft Heinz that became a 13F position this quarter. The top-five positions account for over two-thirds of the portfolio: Wells Fargo (18.95%), Kraft Heinz Co. (18.04%), Coca Cola (12.60%), International Business Machines (9.22%), and American Express (8.82%). 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:AT&T Inc. (T): The AT&T stake was acquired this quarter as a result of AT&T’s merger with DIRECTV that closed in July. Berkshire held 31.35M shares of DIRECTV for which they received 59.32M shares (1:1.892 conversion ratio) of AT&T and $28.50 per share in cash. As a percentage of the portfolio, the position is relatively small at 1.52%. The original DIRECTV stake is from Q3 2011 at a cost-basis in the low-40s and so the stake has more than doubled over the last four years.Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC): KHC is currently the second-largest 13F stock position at 18.04% of the portfolio. Kraft Heinz started trading in July with Berkshire owning just over 325M shares (~27% of the business). The stake came about as a result of two transactions with 3G capital as partner: a $4.25B investment in 2013 for half of Heinz and a $5B investment for the acquisition of Kraft Foods Group earlier this year. All told, Berkshire’s cost-basis on KHC is just below $30 per share compared to the current price of $71.65.Note: Liberty LiLAC Group (LILA) (LILAK) is another new position in the 13F portfolio. It is a minutely small 0.02% stake that came about as a result of the spinoff of Liberty LiLAC Group (Latin American assets of the parent company) from Liberty Global. The shares are structured currently as a tracking stock with plans for an eventual spinoff.Stake Disposals:Viacom Inc. (VIAB): The original VIAB stake was acquired in Q1 & Q2 2012 at a cost-basis in the high-40s. Last quarter saw a ~32% reduction at prices between $64.39 and $72.24 and that was followed by the elimination this quarter at prices between $38.15 and $64.61. The stock currently trades at $51.97. It was a very small 0.33% portfolio stake.Note: DIRECTV and Kraft Foods Group are two other positions no longer in the 13F portfolio as a result of merger transactions. DIRECTV was a 2.66% of the portfolio position while Kraft Foods Group was a minutely small 0.02% stake.Stake Increases:Charter Communications (CHTR): CHTR is a 1.42% of the US long portfolio position. It was established in Q2 2014 at prices between $118 and $158 and more than doubled the following quarter at prices between $151 and $164. Q4 2014 saw a further ~25% increase at prices between $140 and $170. Last quarter, the position was again increased by ~42% at prices between $168 and $193 and that was followed with another ~21% increase this quarter at prices between $167 and $195. The stock currently trades at $186.General Motors (GM):  GM is a 1.18% 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 the following quarter saw an about-turn: ~10% increase at prices between $31.93 and $37.09. Q3 2014 saw another ~21% increase at prices between $31.94 and $37.97. There was another ~22% increase this quarter at prices between $27.28 and $33.33. The stock currently trades at $35.17.International Business Machines (IBM): IBM is Buffett’s fourth-largest stake at 9.22% of the portfolio. The original position was purchased in Q3 2011 at prices between $157.54 and $185.21. Since then, the stake has gone up by almost 40% through periodic purchases. The stock currently trades at $134. This quarter saw a marginal further increase. Berkshire’s cost-basis on IBM is at around $170. Buffett is very bullish on IBM and controls ~8% of the business. For investors attempting to follow Buffett, IBM is a very good option to consider for further research.Liberty Media (LMCA) (LMCK): LMCA is a petite 0.63% 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 and since then had been kept steady. This quarter saw the stake almost doubled at prices between $34.72 and $38.63. The stock is currently at $41.47.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. The reduction was due to a deal whereby Berkshire bought an operating business of PSX in exchange for ~19M shares of PSX stock. The position was further reduced by one-third the following quarter at prices between $76.69 and $86.33. Q1 2015 saw an about-turn: ~14% increase at prices between $59 and $80. Last quarter saw a ~300% increase at prices between $76.79 and $81.63 and that was followed with a stake doubling this quarter at prices between $70.55 and $84.32. The stock currently trades at $91.10. The current position is fairly large at 3.71% of the portfolio (~11.5% of the business).Note 1: Berkshire avoided disclosing PSX stake in the original Q2 2015 13F by making use of the “”. An amendment filed on 9/4/2015 disclosed the huge stake build up.Suncor Energy (SU): SU is a small 0.63% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in Q2 2013 at prices between $27.40 and $32. Last year saw a ~24% increase at prices between $27.74 and $43.08. This quarter saw another roughly one-third increase at prices between $24.81 and $29.04. The stock currently trades at $28.73.Twenty First Century Fox (FOX) (FOXA): FOXA is a minutely small 0.19% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q4 2014 at prices between $31.77 and $39.01 and increased by ~31% the following quarter at prices between $32.80 and $38.40. This quarter saw another ~44% increase at prices between $25.19 and $34.49. The stock currently trades at $30.30.US Bancorp (USB): USB, a 2.74% 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. Q1 2015 saw a 4.57% increase at prices between $40.94 and $45.12 and that was followed with marginal increases in the last two quarters. Berkshire’s cost-basis on USB is ~$32 and the stock is now at $43.11. Buffett controls 4.7% of the business.Axalta Coating Systems (AXTA): AXTA is a small 0.46% of the portfolio stake established last quarter at prices between $27.62 and $36.37 and increased by ~16% this quarter at prices between $24.49 and $33.52. The stock currently trades at $28.97. Although the position relative to the size of the portfolio is small, it is very significant that Berkshire owns ~9.8% of the business.Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA) (LBTYK): The position was established in Q4 2013 at prices between $37.50 and $44.50 (adjusted for the 03/2014 stock-split) and increased significantly in the following two quarters at prices between $38.49 and $46. The stock is now at $42.64 and the stake is at 0.64% of the US long portfolio. This quarter saw a ~9% increase.Stake Decreases:Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK):  BK is a 0.62% 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. Last five quarters have seen an about turn as there was a combined ~18% reduction at prices between $36 and $45. The stock currently trades at $42.93.Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI): CBI is a minutely small 0.06% of the US long portfolio position. The original stake was purchased in Q1 2013 at prices between $46 and $62. It was increased by 47% in Q2 2013 at prices between $50.92 and $63.75. Q4 2014 saw another 12% increase at prices between $65.51 and $87.65. Last quarter, there was an about turn: ~13% reduction at prices between $47.65 and $58.63. This quarter saw another ~79% reduction at prices between $37.24 and $53.26. The stock currently trades at $42.18.Deere & Company (DE): DE stake was first acquired in Q3 2012 when around 4M shares were purchased at prices between $75.11 and $82.70. The position remained steady until Q3 2014 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 “”. In Q4 2014, the position was increased by another 125% at prices between $80 and $91. The stock currently trades at $74.70. The stake is at ~1% of the portfolio and Buffett controls ~5% of the business. This quarter saw a marginal reduction. For investors attempting to follow Berkshire, DE is a good option to consider for further research.Goldman Sachs (GS): GS is a 1.49% 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. This quarter saw a ~13% reduction at prices between $172 and $213. It currently trades at $192.Wal-Mart Stores (WMT):  WMT stake was first purchased in 2005. It has since been built up to a 2.86% position. The last significant activity was a 17% increase in Q1 2014 at prices between $72.66 and $78.91. This quarter saw a ~7% trimming at prices between $63.10 and $73.88. The stock currently trades at $57.87. Berkshire’s cost-basis is at around $56.Media General (MEG) and Wabco Holdings (WBC): These are very small positions (less than ~0.3% of the portfolio each) reduced further this quarter.Note 1: Although the relative sizes of the positions are small, it should be noted that Berkshire controls ~2.7% of Media General and ~6.3% of Wabco Holdings.Kept Steady:American Express (AXP), Coca Cola (KO), and Procter & Gamble (PG):  These are very large stakes that were kept steady during the last ten quarters. 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 and ownership stakes are at 14.8%, 9.2%, and 1.9% respectively.DaVita Inc. (DVA):  DVA is a 2.19% 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 $73.51. 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.Note: (TO Add from Q4 2015 Update): Per 2014 AR, Berkshire’s overall cost-basis on DVA is $45.53.Moody’s Inc. (MCO):  MCO is a 1.90% of the US long portfolio stake. It is a very long-term position and Buffett’s cost basis is ~$10.  The stock currently trades at $98.09. The stock returned around 48% in 2013, 23% in 2014, and is flat so far this year. Berkshire controls 11.5% of the business.Precision Castparts (PCP): The 0.76% of the portfolio PCP stake was built up over several quarters through Q1 2015. The bulk of the buying happened in the latter two quarters at prices between $200 and $241. The stock currently trades at $231.Note: On August 10th, Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy PCP in a $235 per share cash deal.Restaurant Brands International (QSR): QSR is a 0.24% of the US long portfolio position established in Q4 2014 at prices between $35 and $42. The stock currently trades at $35.89. The stock started trading in December 2014 following a merger/rename transaction between Tim Hortons and Burger King Worldwide. Berkshire’s stake in the business is ~4.2%.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 $24.46. Buffett controls around 27% of the business and his overall cost-basis is at around $19.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 at prices between $38 and $48 and another 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 $83.37. The current position is at ~10% of the business.Verizon Communications (VZ): VZ is a small 0.51% of the US long portfolio position established in Q1 2014 at prices between $46 and $49.30. It was increased by ~36% the following quarter at prices between $45.94 and $50.05. The stock currently trades just below his purchase price ranges at $45.04.Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC):  WFC is Buffett’s largest stake at 18.95% of the US long portfolio. Q1 2015 saw a ~7M share stake increase at prices between $50.72 and $56.17. The previous significant activity was in Q2 2013: over 18M shares were purchased at the time at prices between $34.66 and $38.20. The stock currently trades at $55.26. Berkshire’s cost-basis is at around $25.Costco Wholesale (COST), General Electric (GE), Graham Holdings (GHC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Lee Enterprises (LEE), M&T Bank (MTB), MasterCard Inc. (MA), Mondelez International (MDLZ), NOW Inc. (DNOW), Sanofi (SNY), Torchmark Corporation (TMK), United Parcel Service (UPS), Verisk Analytics (VRSK), and Visa Inc. (V): These are very small positions (less than ~0.6% of the portfolio each) kept steady this quarter.Note 2: The DNOW position was established in Q2 2014 as a result of National Oilwell Varco’s spin-off of its distribution business.Note 3: Per the , Berkshire has a $2.03B position in Sanofi - so in addition to the 13F securities listed in the spreadsheet, Berkshire also owns Sanofi securities listed in Euronext Paris. The only other large non-US individual stock position reported in the AR is Munich RE at $4B (11.8% of the business). Tesco plc (TSCDY) was a large position listed in the 2013 annual report. Berkshire liquidated that stake in 2014: sold 301M shares and realized $444M in losses.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Berkshire Hathaway’s US stock holdings in Q3 2015:: Book Value increased from $146,186 to $146,963 per share. Float is down marginally from $84B to $83.5B.Tesco plc exit: EOY 2012 - held 415M shares. Sold 114M shares in 2013 for profit of $43M. Sold remaining 301M shares in 2014 and realized after-tax losses of $444M - about one-fifth of 1% of Berkshire’s net worth.Note on QSR: for some reason, Google Finance brings up the TSE quotes by default. So, be careful when updating the pricing info. A user pointed out this mistake in my Q4 2014 update and I corrected the article."