Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. made no major purchases during the market slump that preceded President Donald Trump’s trade war, instead whittling or selling off holdings in financial stocks during the first quarter.
In the last year of his tenure as Berkshire’s chief executive officer, Buffett exited his position in Citigroup Inc., according to a regulatory filing Thursday. The firm also shrank its pile of Capital One Financial Corp. shares, as well as its longtime stake in Bank of America Corp.
Buffett, 94, started cutting his BofA stake in July last year, without providing any explanation for the move. He now owns 8.3% of the US lender and is no longer its biggest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Buffett largely refrained from making large acquisitions in recent years, instead building a cash pile that reached nearly $350 billion by the end of March. At the conglomerate’s annual meeting this month, the billionaire said the recent market downturn was “really nothing,” pointing to times in Berkshire’s history when his company’s stock lost half of its value in short spans.
Shares of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire have gained more than 11% so far this year.
In the meeting, Buffett said his firm had been “pretty close” to spending $10 billion on a deal recently but eventually decided against it.
Buffett added to his stake in Constellation Brands Inc., which now totals 6.6% — or some $2.2 billion — of the alcohol distributor. He also bought more Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. shares in the first quarter.
His stake in Apple Inc. remained untouched in the period and still represents the billionaire’s portfolio’s most valuable holding.
Buffett plans to step down as chairman at year-end. He built Berkshire into a business valued at more than $1.1 trillion, with individuals as well as professionals closely watching and sometimes imitating his investment moves.
With assistance from Erin Fuchs.
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