Clues suggest Berkshire sold $4.6B of Apple shares this summer

We won't get the exact details of what Berkshire Hathaway was buying and selling in the third quarter until Monday afternoon when the company is expected to disclose its holdings, as of September 30, of publicly-traded U.S. stocks.

As Barron's notes, however, Berkshire's Q3 earnings report indicates it sold almost 38 million shares of Apple, reducing its largest stock holding by around 4%.

At today's closing price of $119.26, the shares that were sold are worth $4.6 billion, and Berkshire's remaining stake of almost 965 million shares is valued at $115 billion.

Here's the math:

A footnote in Berkshire's Q2 earnings report (page 9) says its Apple shares were worth $91.5 billion on June 30. The stock closed that day at $91.20 per share.

Dividing the value by the price puts the stake at just over 1 billion shares, matching what was reported in the 13F filings by Berkshire and a subsidiary that holds some Apple shares that are included in its overall total (and adjusted for Apple's 4-for-1 split at the end of August.)

In Berkshire's Q3 earnings, the same footnote (this time on page 10) puts the value of the Apple holding at $111.7 billion. Dividing by the September 30 closing price of $115.81 shows the stake was then down to around 965 million shares.

Our Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker will be updated late Monday after we get confirmation and the precise figures.

Barron's also predicts that based on changes in the cost basis for its holdings in the sectors, Berkshire sold some financial stocks and bought some industrials.

Berkshire was buying Berkshire in Q3

The company's earnings report last weekend also revealed it bought back $9 billion of its own stock in July, August, and September. That's an increase of 76% from the second quarter's $5.1 billion of buybacks, and brings the year's total to $15.7 billion.

Earnings for Berkshire's operating companies fell more than 30% from last year's Q3 as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to slow economic activity.

Wall Street appeared to like the buybacks, (and news of Pfizer's successful COVID vaccine tests) with Berkshire Class A shares gaining 5.3% on Monday and 8.9% on the week as a whole.  The S&P was up 2.2% on the week.

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BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS - Nov 13, 2020

Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly-traded U.S. stocks by market value, based on today's closing prices.

Holdings are as of June 30, 2020 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on August 14, 2020 and other filings, except for Bank of America, which is as of August 4, 2020, DaVita, which is as of September 17, 2020, and Wells Fargo, which is as of August 14, 2020.

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

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-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch