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Berkshire slashed its holding in Bank of New York in the fourth quarter.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Berkshire Hathaway
cut its equity stakes in
Bank of New York
and
Activision
Blizzard and increased its holding in
Louisiana-Pacific
in the fourth quarter, according to filings released Tuesday.
Berkshire Hathaway (Ticker BRK/A, BRK/B) reduced its holding in
BK
) to 25 million shares in the fourth quarter from 62.2 million shares in the third quarter. Berkshire cuts its interest in
ATVI
) by 7.3 million shares to 52.7 million shares.
The stake in
LPX
) rose to 7 million shares from 5.8 million shares.
The change in these holdings was reported in 13-G filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 13-G is an annual filing for passive holdings that are more than 5%.
Berkshire’s stake in
Apple
(
AAPL
), its largest equity investment, rose slightly to 915.6 million shares, but the increase of about 300,000 shares likely reflects the inclusion of
Apple
shares held by Alleghany, the insurer that Berkshire bought in October.
Berkshire is expected to report later Tuesday in a 13-F filing all its U.S. equity holdings.
The 13-G filing shows shows no change in Berkshire’s holding in
Occidental Petroleum
.
Berkshire continues to hold 194.3 million shares, a 21% stake.
The filing shows 278.2 million shares but that includes some 83.9 million warrants to buy Occidental stock that Berkshire has held for nearly four years. Those warrants can be exercised at around $60 a share. Warrants are long-term call options that allow the holder to buy stock at a predetermined price. Occidental closed at $66.36, up 2.5%, meaning the warrants are in the money.
There may be some confusion among investors when the Berkshire 13-F report of the company’s complete holdings is reported later Tuesday.
The 13-F is less comprehensive than the 13-G because it excludes stock held by New England Asset Management, which is part of Berkshire’s General Re insurance division. New England Asset Management files a separate 13-F report but its holdings are included in Berkshire’s 13-G report.
Berkshire, for instance, held 894.8 million shares of Apple at the end of the third quarter based on its 13-F report. New England held 20.5 million shares.
Write to Andrew Bary at [email protected]
