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Berkshire Hathaway released its latest quarterly report on Saturday with a telling number: the Warren Buffett-led conglomerate now owns only $84.2 billion in Apple stock, down nearly 50% from the $174.3 billion it held in December. Apple shares dropped more than 5% in response to the news Monday.
The report shows that, as of December 31, 79% of the combined value of all of Berkshire's stock came from five companies: Apple ($174.3 billion), Bank of America ($34.8 billion), American Express ($28.4 billion), Coca-Cola ($23.6 billion) and Chevron ($18.8 billion).
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By June 30, Berkshire changed its holdings where the same five companies were 72% of its total stock value. Apple is still Berkshire's largest holding, but Berkshire's stake in the iPhone maker dropped to $84.2 billion. Chevron fell to $18.6 billion, while Bank of America, American Express, and Coca-Cola rose to $41.1 billion, $35.1 billion, and $25.5 billion respectively.
"A safe conclusion is that Berkshire is getting defensive," CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert told Reuters, meaning Berkshire could be playing it safe and responding to high stock market valuations, or concerns about the U.S. economy.
Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of over $3 trillion at the time of writing. Berkshire has now cut its Apple stake for three quarters in a row.
At Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in May, 93-year-old Buffett hinted that Berkshire cut its Apple holdings for tax reasons and that he remained confident in Apple.
"We will own — unless something really extraordinary happens — we will own Apple and American Express and Coca-Cola when Greg takes over this place," Buffett said, referring to his successor Greg Abel.
Other top ten Berkshire holdings include Occidental Petroleum, Moody's, and Kraft Heinz.
