Berkshire Hathaway has been actively rebalancing its portfolio, selling 16 stocks in Q1, completely offloading 12 stocks after Greg Abel took over as CEO earlier this year followingWarren Buffett's retirementat the age of 95.
The latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Berkshire completely sold its $2.91 billion stake in Visa, $2.28 billion stake in Mastercard, $1.66 billion position in UnitedHealth Group, $1.40 billion stake in Domino's Pizza, $525 million worth of holdings in Amazon, $1.27 billion stake in Aon PLC, and $702 million stake in Pool Corp, as well as stakes in Heico Corp and Lamar Advertising Company.
Berkshire Hathaway under Abel also exited from companies like Charter Communications, Diageo, and Allegion, while trimming its stakes in Chevron, Constellation Brands, Nucor, and Bank of America.
There is apparently a shift in Berkshire's trading style and frequency as many of the companies it sold in Q1 were held by Buffett for many decades. As Abel crafts his own legacy at Berkshire Hathaway, the latest trades have raised concerns in investor communities about deviation from Buffett's investment strategies that Berkshire is built on.
When Berkshire had announced that Buffett would retire, markets were worried about a fading 'Buffett premium' attached to the company. The latest trades have reignited concerns about where the company is headed.
Across social media platforms, investors appear more worried about Berkshire's Q1 stock buys.
People voiced concerns about how Berkshire acted like they were above hype stock and speculation, but is now piling into companies like Google at its near highs, Dell Technologies after it already ran its rally, and Macy's that have faced long-time revival issues.
A Reddit user even mentioned that it looks like people at Berkshire Hathaway were waiting for Buffett to leave so that they could 'finally start gambling with the Berkshire name attached to it.'
'Imagine listening to decades of lectures about discipline and valuation just to end up chasing whatever wall street is pumping this quarter,' the Reddit user had noted, adding that it 'kinda proves Buffett was Berkshire,' and without him, it looks like another giant fund 'pretending to be smarter than everyone else.'
When Buffett had told CNBC that he visits the office daily and influences trades at the company, the news partly cleared doubts over who is actually making the trades at Berkshire.
Source: International Business Times UK
