"Tracking Tweedy Browne Portfolio – Q4 2014 Update"
"Tweedy Browne’s US long portfolio decreased from $4.34B to $3.91B this quarter.The largest five individual stock positions are Johnson & Johnson, Berkshire Hathaway, Cisco Systems, Wells Fargo, and Devon Energy and they account for around 41% of the US long portfolio.A 5.39% position in Banco Santander Brazil was eliminated and a 4.12% position in Joy Global was reduced by around 50% this quarter.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Tweedy Browne US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Tweedy Browne’s regulatory  filed on 02/12/2015. Please visit our  series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and our  for the fund’s moves during Q3 2014.This quarter, Tweedy Browne’s US long portfolio decreased around 10% from $4.34B to $3.91B. The number of holdings remained steady at 49. The largest holding is Johnson & Johnson at 11.09% of the US long portfolio. Largest five individual stock positions are Johnson & Johnson, Berkshire Hathaway, Cisco Systems, Wells Fargo, and Devon Energy. 34 of the 49 reported stakes are significantly large (over ~0.5% of the US long portfolio each) and they are the focus of this article.Tweedy Browne 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.New Stakes:None.Stake Disposals:Banco Santander Brasil (BSBR): BSBR was the second-largest position at 9.07% of the US long portfolio as of Q2 2014. The position was aggressively built-up against falling prices over several quarters at prices between $4.48 and $7.29. Last quarter the pattern reversed as the stake was reduced by 41.64% at prices between $6.48 and $7.09 and that was followed by the disposal this quarter at prices between $4.60 and $6.54. The stock currently trades at $5.07. The about-turn indicates a clear bearish bias.Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ): CNQ was a very small 0.60% of the US long portfolio position that was eliminated this quarter. As the position size was very small, the activity does not indicate a clear bias.Stake Increases:Verizon Communications (VZ): VZ is a small 1.68% of the US long portfolio position established last quarter at prices between $48.40 and $52. This quarter, the stake was increased by ~38% at prices between $45.42 and $51.50. VZ has seen super-investor interest with Berkshire Hathaway & Chou Associates Management also adding recently. The stock currently trades at $49.31, well within their purchase price ranges.Halliburton Company (HAL): HAL was the second-largest position at 7.92% of the US long portfolio as of last quarter. The bulk of the stake was purchased in 2012 at prices between $27.80 and $38.50. The position was marginally increased this quarter. The stock went down about 40% during the quarter and that resulted in the stake falling to 5.39% of the US long portfolio. The stock currently trades at $44.19.Stake Decreases:Joy Global (JOY): JOY is a small ~2% position that was first purchased in 2012. The bulk of the stake was purchased in 2013 at higher prices compared to the current trading price of around $44. This quarter, the position was reduced by ~48% at prices between $45.91 and $54.87. The substantial reduction in a longer-term stake indicates a bearish bias.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 8.33% 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 three quarters. The stock currently trades at around $148.Cisco Systems (CSCO): CSCO was a 2.2% of the US long portfolio position when first established in 2011. It is currently their third-largest stake at 7.59% 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 $29.43.ConocoPhillips (COP): COP was a minutely small position in 2007. The majority of the current ~2.8M share position (5.01%) was purchased in 2009 at prices between $37 and $55. The stock currently trades at $69.88. The last several quarters have seen minor reductions.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 top-five 6.55% of the US long portfolio position that was reduced marginally in the last three 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 at $66.47. The position has been kept relatively steady since.Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG is a medium-sized 3.80% position first purchased in 2012 at much lower prices compared to the current trading price of around $549. Last few quarters have seen very minor reductions. Browne is sitting on huge long-term gains on this position.Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): JNJ is the largest position in the US long portfolio at 11.09%. 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 has been marginally reduced and the pattern continued this quarter with a minor 0.52% reduction. The share count is still at ~4.14M shares. The stock currently trades at $99.62. Tweedy Browne is sitting on large long-term gains on this position.National-Oilwell Varco (NOV): NOV is a small 0.62% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q3 2013 at prices between $69 and $79. The original position was increased by ~12% early last year at prices between $73 and $83. This quarter saw a very minor reduction and the stock currently trades at $53.36.NOTE: The figures quoted above understate the actual performance of this stake as there was a spin-off related price-drop. On June 2, 2014, NOV shareholders received one share of NOW Inc. (DNOW) common stock for every four shares of NOV held.Wells Fargo (WFC): WFC is a top-five position that was marginally reduced this quarter to a 7.24% of the US long portfolio stake. The initial position was established in 2010 with the bulk of the current stake purchased in 2011 at prices between $25 and $34. The stock currently trades at $55.33.3M Company (MMM), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Baxter International (BAX), & Emerson Electric (EMR): These are medium-sized (less than ~5% of the US long portfolio) long-term stakes in the portfolio. MMM & EMR positions were 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 clear bullish bias toward these businesses.American Express (AXP), American National Insurance (ANAT), Coca Cola FEMSA (KOF), Comcast Corporation (CMCSA), Diageo plc (DEO), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), MasterCard Inc. (MA), National Western Life (NWLI), Novartis AG (NVS), Phillips 66 (PSX), Torchmark Corporation (TMK), Total SA (TOT), 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:Lockheed Martin (LMT), Philip Morris (PM), & US Bancorp (USB): These positions were kept steady this quarter. LMT & USB are very small (less than 1% of the US long portfolio each) stakes while PM is a medium-sized 3.87% position.Other minutely small (less than 0.5% of the US long portfolio each) stakes in the portfolio include GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), HSBC Holdings (HSBC), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Brown & Brown (BRO), Connecticut Water Service (CTWS), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Federated Investors (FII), NOW Inc. (DNOW), Shenandoah Tel. (SHEN), and AGCO Corp. (AGCO).The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Tweedy Browne’s US stock holdings in Q4 2014:"