Berkshire Hathaway's latest holdings in Q3 2024 & complete record of buying and selling Apple - Reduced Apple holdings by 100 million shares in Q3

On November 3, Berkshire Hathaway released its Q3 2024 financial report on its official website. Although the report did not fully disclose the 13F investment holdings as of the end of Q3, it roughly revealed the following information:

1. Cash Holdings:

As of the end of September, it held $341.2 billion in cash, an increase of $47.5 billion compared to Q2 and nearly $150 billion compared to the beginning of the year.

2. Stock Holdings:

As of the end of September, it held $271.65 billion in stocks, a decrease of $13.2 billion compared to Q2 and $82.2 billion compared to the beginning of the year.

3. Top 5 Holdings by Amount:

Apple: $69.9 billion

American Express: $41.1 billion

Bank of America: $31.7 billion

Coca-Cola: $28.7 billion

Chevron: $17.5 billion

The total amount of the top 5 holdings is $188.9 billion, accounting for 70% of the total holdings.

Based on the holdings of the above five companies and their closing prices on September 30, we can calculate the latest share counts. Comparing them with Q2's share counts, we can see:

In Q3, Apple's latest share count was 300 million, a reduction of 100 million shares compared to Q2's 400 million shares.

In Q3, Bank of America's latest share count was around 800 million, a reduction of approximately 233 million shares compared to Q2's 1.033 billion shares.

The share counts for American Express, Coca-Cola, and Chevron remained unchanged.

Berkshire's complete holdings details are expected to be submitted in the 13F filing in the coming days. Those interested can keep an eye out.

Apple's Complete Buy and Sell Records:

Buffett has significantly reduced his holdings in Apple for three consecutive quarters this year, selling 116 million shares, 390 million shares, and 100 million shares in the last three quarters, totaling 600 million shares—nearly two-thirds of his total holdings. This validates Duan Yongping's post: When Buffett reduces holdings in a stock, it's usually a sign he's heading for a complete exit.

Next, let's look at Buffett's annual records of buying and selling Apple:

Note:

1. Apple underwent a 1:4 stock split in 2020. For consistency, the share counts in the chart above are post-split figures.

2. Precise data on buy and sell prices and amounts are unavailable; estimates are based on the closing prices at the end of each quarter.

Buying Records:

According to Berkshire's disclosed 13F filings, Buffett first bought Apple in Q1 2016, spending $1 billion to purchase 39.25 million shares at an average price of around $27.

Buffett's Apple holdings were mostly acquired between 2016 and 2018. Over these three years, he accumulated 1.01 billion shares of Apple, spending $37.7 billion at an average price of around $37.3.

Later, in 2022-2023, he also spent $4.6 billion to buy over 28 million shares of Apple at an average price of $164, but this was relatively small in proportion to his total holdings.

During the nine years of holding Apple, Buffett's stake peaked at the end of Q3 2018, reaching 1.01 billion shares.

Selling Records:

Over the nine years of holding Apple, Buffett reduced his stake in five years. However, the reductions in 2018, 2019, and 2023 were minimal, totaling 39.29 million shares and $3.63 billion in proceeds.

The larger reductions occurred in 2020 and 2024, with 93.48 million shares and 605 million shares sold, respectively, generating $11.8 billion and $125.2 billion in proceeds.

After three consecutive quarters of reductions in 2024, Apple's proportion in Berkshire's total holdings has dropped from around 50% at its peak in 2023 to about 25.7% currently.

Summary:

From Q1 2016 when Buffett first bought Apple to the end of Q3 this year:

Buffett bought a total of 1.038 billion shares of Apple, with a total cost of $42.3 billion and an average purchase price of $40.8.

Buffett sold a total of 738 million shares of Apple, generating $140.6 billion in proceeds at an average selling price of around $190.

As of the end of September, Berkshire's remaining 300 million shares of Apple were worth $69.9 billion. Thus, as of September 30, Berkshire's profit on Apple alone was:

140.6 + 69.9 - 42.3 = $168.2 billion.

Undoubtedly, Apple has become the stock with the highest absolute profit in Buffett's 70-year investment career. Globally, whether in primary or secondary markets, this profit figure is likely among the highest.

A quick calculation of Prosus's profit from investing in Tencent:

Historically, it has realized $45 billion in proceeds, and its remaining 24% stake in Tencent is worth $120 billion, bringing total profits to $165 billion.

Coincidentally, this is on par with Buffett's profit from Apple. Buffett achieved this in nine years in the secondary market with a large capital base, taking less time.

Prosus took 23 years to achieve this, spending much longer but with an investment cost of less than $100 million, resulting in a higher return rate.

Appendix: Berkshire's Detailed Buy and Sell Records for Apple

Share count unit: shares; increase/decrease and proceeds unit: USD; market value and total holdings unit: thousand USD.$Berkshire Hathaway B(BRK.B.US) $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A.US) $Apple(AAPL.US)