Warren Buffett has added new positions in Nucor and UnitedHealth Group, while shedding more shares of Apple and Bank of America, the quarterly Form 13-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed late yesterday.
Buffett also established a new position in homebuilder D.R. Horton, while adding a much bigger stake in Lennar. UNH, NUE, DHI and LEN all surged late Thursday. Lamar Advertising, another new pickup for Berkshire Hathaway, also rose.
Berkshire Hathaway's prior 13-F filing on May 15 included a mention that the company omitted one or more holdings from its Q1 report "for which it is requesting confidential treatment" from the SEC.
Buffett's Secret Stock Pick?
The 13-F doesn't detail which stock or stocks Buffett purchased confidentially. The report shows the Nucor stake as of June 30 was 6.6 million shares valued at $857 million. Berkshire has purchased just over 5 million shares of UnitedHealth valued at $1.57 billion.
So far, Berkshire has lost money on UNH stock, which closed at 271.49 on Thursday, 13% below its average purchase price of 311.97. However, disclosure of Buffett's purchase sent UNH flying 11% higher to 301.50 early Friday. News that David Tepper's Appaloosa hedge fund and Stephen Mandel Lone Pine Capital disclosed new or expanded stakes in UNH also provided a confidence boost.
UNH doesn't appear to be the confidential purchase because shares hit a low point of 438.50 in Q1, before collapsing in Q2.
Nucor jumped past a buy point in early Friday stock market action after the Buffett disclosure. Nucor traded up 6.2% to 153.34 before the open. NUE stock has a 147.15 buy point from a cup-with-handle base, according to MarketSurge. The buy zone runs through 154.51.
Buffett's average purchase price for Nucor has been 129.54, so that's been a winner for Berkshire. Nucor could well be one of his confidential purchases.
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Berkshire's Housing Bet
Berkshire revealed a stake of 1.49 million shares of D.R. Horton worth $191.49 million as of June 30. Buffett dramatically increased his Lennar stake to 7.23 million shares from 152,572 as of March 31. That gave Berkshire a stake worth $798.7 million.
DHI rose 3.1% and LEN 4.6% early Friday. Both stocks have climbed lately as mortgage rates fell after the surprisingly gloomy July jobs report.
Buffett Keeping It On The Down Low
Barron's reported that Buffett has previously requested confidential treatment when Berkshire is in the process of accumulating shares in a new investment to avoid tipping off investors. Previous examples include Buffett's $7 billion investment in Chubb, which was first disclosed in May 2024, after twice omitting purchases of the insurer from quarterly 13-F filings. That experience raised the possibility that Buffett might keep his cards close to his vest for another quarter.
Positions in Chevron and Verizon were belatedly disclosed in 2020 and 2021 after requests of confidential treatment, Barron's said.
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Warren Buffett's Apple And Bank of America Stakes
The 13-F provided an update on the size of Berkshire's five largest holdings: Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Chevron and Coca-Cola.
Buffett trimmed his Apple stake to 280 million shares at the end of Q2 from 300 million at the end of Q1. That's down by more than two-thirds since the third quarter of 2023.
Buffett sold about 4% of his remaining Bank of America stake, which stood at 605.27 million shares on June 30, down from 631.57 million as of March 31.
Amid sales of Apple and Bank of America, Buffett has been a net seller of equities for 11 straight quarters.
Buffett's Coca-Cola and AmEx positions were unchanged. He increased his Chevron stake by 2.9% or 3.45 million shares.
Heico Investment Is A Winner
Buffett once again added to his Heico stake in Q2, after first establishing the position in the second quarter of 2024. The aerospace supplier, featured as a recent IBD Stock Of The Day, has been a winner for Berkshire. It has a 98 IBD Composite Rating out of a possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The single rating combines both technical and fundamental factors.
Heico has pulled back to just below its 50-day moving average but a decisive move above the line could flash an early entry opportunity.
Berkshire added 132,524 shares of HEI, raising its stake by 11%.
Berkshire Stock Struggles As Buffett Nears Exit
Berkshire stock has tumbled from record highs since the annual meeting in early May, when Warren Buffett said he would be stepping down as CEO at year end, but remaining chairman.
BRKB hit a six-month low on Aug. 4 following Q2 results. Shares look set to retake their 50-day line on Friday morning but remain below their 200-day moving average.
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