Berkshire Hathaway Bought Alphabet Shares in the Third Quarter. Here’s What It Sold.

(Michael Nagle / Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Berkshire Hathaway acquired $4.3 billion in Alphabet shares, making it 1.6% of its portfolio by September 30.
• Berkshire Hathaway sold $10.6 billion in Apple shares and $1.9 billion in Bank of America stock in the third quarter.
• Apple remains Berkshire’s largest holding at 22.7%, and Bank of America is the third-largest at 11% of the portfolio.

Berkshire Hathaway bought $4.3 billion worth of Alphabet shares in the third quarter, according to the company’s latest 13-F report. The filing, released on Friday, detailed the company’s equity holdings of U.S.-listed securities as of Sept. 30.

Alphabet made up 1.6% of Berkshire’s portfolio by the end of September. The company didn’t own any Alphabet shares as of the end of the second quarter.

Berkshire also bought holdings in insurance company Chubb valued at $1.2 billion, boosting its share in the portfolio to 3.3%.

In the third quarter, Berkshire sold $10.6 billion worth of Apple shares, $1.9 billion worth of Bank of America stock, and $1.2 billion worth of holdings of VeriSign, a provider of domain registry services, the report showed.

Berkshire has been reducing its stakes in Apple and Bank of America for some time. Its stake in Apple has dropped from about 900 million shares at year-end 2023 to 238 million by the end of September, and its Bank of America position has shrunk by 45% since July 2024.

Still, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest holding, comprising 22.7% of the portfolio. Bank of America is the third-largest holding, and comprises 11% of the portfolio.

Berkshire didn’t change the position of its second-largest holding, American Express, which made up 18.8% of the portfolio by the end of September.

Berkshire didn’t increase its holdings in health insurance and benefits company UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter. The company bought five million shares of UnitedHealth in the second quarter, which spurred a rally in the stock in mid-August. UnitedHealth comprised 0.65% of Berkshire’s portfolio as of the end of September.

Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com