Hedge Funds Are Dumping Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B)

Page 1 of 2

World-class money managers like Bill Ackman and Barry Rosenstein only invest their wealthy clients’ money after undertaking a rigorous examination of any potential stock. They are particularly successful in this regard when it comes to small-cap stocks, which their peerless research gives them a big information advantage on when it comes to judging their worth. It’s not surprising then that they generate their biggest returns from these stocks and invest more of their money in these stocks on average than other investors. It’s also not surprising then that we pay close attention to these picks ourselves and have built a market-beating investment strategy around them.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. BRK.B was in 69 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 71 hedge funds in our database with BRK.B holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare BRK.B to other stocks including Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Follow Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A)

At the moment there are plenty of indicators stock traders use to analyze their holdings. Some of the most innovative indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the key action regarding Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B).

How have hedgies been trading Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 69 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a drop of 3% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, managed by Michael Larson, holds the biggest position in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B). The trust has a $10.3 billion position in the stock, comprising 60.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Eagle Capital Management, led by Boykin Curry, holding a $1.46 billion position; the fund has 6.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Tom Russo’s Gardner Russo & Gardner, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.

Page 1 of 2