Action: Added to stake
Shares held: 165.3 million (+23.3% from Q3)
Value: $28.4 billion
Berkshire first added Apple (AAPL, $167.37) to its portfolio in early 2016, and has been adding steadily to it ever since. Last quarter was no exception; Buffett picked up another 31.2 million shares. Apple is now the largest holding in the portfolio, eclipsing Wells Fargo (WFC).
Granted, both stocks’ stories helped displace Wells Fargo as the now-former mainstay.
Although it looked like the big bank might have finally left its account-opening scandal in the past, the Federal Reserve effectively put the handcuffs on it, announcing earlier this month that it wouldn’t be permitted to grow its asset base until several conditions regarding its oversight measure had been met. The news tanked the stock. Meanwhile, Apple shares have made continued – even if inconsistent – progress thanks to healthy demand for its new high-priced iPhones.
Apple remains an admittedly un-Buffett-like pick, as he’s largely eschewed cyclical consumer technology stocks in the past. If there was ever a call for an exception to his own rule of thumb, though, Apple seems to be it.
Berkshire, by the way, sold a little of its Wells Fargo stake during the fourth quarter. More on that in a moment.
