Media reports say that Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.B) new CEO Greg Abel has been tinkering with the conglomerate’s $320-billion stock portfolio.
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The Wall Street Journal has reported that Abel has been selling stocks previously managed by Todd Combs, one of Warren Buffett’s former investment managers. Which stocks Abel has sold won’t be known until Berkshire Hathaway files its next 13F regulatory update in May of this year.
However, the report says that Abel has been offloading stocks bought by Combs, who left Berkshire Hathaway last December to join JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Abel succeeded legendary investor and longtime Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett in January of this year.
Berkshire’s Stock Portfolio
Buffett, Combs and a third manager, Ted Weschler, had long handled Berkshire Hathaway’s massive stock portfolio. However, which managers bought and sold individual stocks was never disclosed publicly. Although Buffett acknowledged that he oversaw the majority of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.
The Wall Street Journal says that Abel is unlikely to hire anyone to replace Combs and that he plans to take an active role in Berkshire’s portfolio moving forward. Among Berkshire Hathaway’s largest long-term holdings that are most certain not to have been touched by Abel include Coca-Cola (KO) and American Express (AXP). Apple (AAPL) remains Berkshire’s largest stock holding.
Is BRK.B Stock a Buy?
Only a couple of analysts currently offer a rating and price target on Berkshire Hathaway’s more affordable Class B stock. So instead, we’ll look at the shares’ three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, shares of BRK.B have declined 2.56% over the past 12 months.
