Berkshire Hathaway Buys Kinder Morgan, Sells Chicago Bridge, Reduces AT&T

Warren Buffett releases portfolio update

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Feb 16, 2016
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Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) released the updated fourth-quarter portfolio for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) Tuesday evening.

In the third quarter 2015, Buffett held on to most of what he had, buying no new stocks and only increasing some of his existing holdings. Since the start of the 2016, his company of choice has been oil refiner Phillips 66 (PSX, Financial), in which he increased his stake to 14.2%. He did not purchase its shares during the fourth quarter, however.

Berkshire Hathaway also has two portfolio managers, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, who share similar investing philosophies but make independent investing decisions. They disclose their holdings in the same regulatory filing, meaning any of the three could have made the purchases and sells in the portfolio. Typically, the smaller positions belong to the two managers.

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hathaway bought Kinder Morgan (KMI, Financial), increased Deere & Co. (DE, Financial), exited Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CBI, Financial) and reduced AT&T (T, Financial).

The adjustments made the portfolio 67.7% consumer defensive stocks, 34.4% financial services, 9.3% technology and 4.7% energy at the top, with a total value of $131.9 billion at quarter-end.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI, Financial)

Berkshire Hathaway bought 26,533,525 shares of Kinder Morgan Inc., a 0.3% portfolio weight. The stock’s price for the quarter averaged $24 per share.

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Kinder Morgan Inc. is a midstream and energy company formed in Aug. 23, 2006. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a market cap of $34.86 billion; its shares were traded at around $15.62 with a P/E ratio of 34.66 and P/S ratio of 1.87. The dividend yield of Kinder Morgan Inc. stocks is 10.27%.

Deere & Co. (DE, Financial)

Berkshire increased its position in Deere & Co. by 34.2% to 22,884,150 shares, a 1.32% portfolio weight. The stock’s share price averaged $77, and the position was started in the second quarter 2012.

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Deere & Company was incorporated under the laws of Delaware in 1958. Deere & Co. has a market cap of $25.28 billion; its shares were traded at around $79.81 with a P/E ratio of 13.76 and P/S ratio of 0.93. The dividend yield of Deere & Co. stocks is 3.02%. Deere & Co. had an annual average earnings growth of 9.40% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Deere & Co. the business predictability rank of 5-star.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CBI, Financial)

Berkshire sold its remaining stake of 1,983,190 shares in Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., which they had reduced for the past two quarters. The share price averaged $41 for the quarter.

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Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. was founded in 1889. It provides conceptual design, technology, engineering, procurement, fabrication, modularization, construction, commissioning, maintenance, program management and environmental services to customers in the energy infrastructure market throughout the world, and is a provider of diversified government services. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. has a market cap of $3.46 billion; its shares were traded at around $32.99 with and P/S ratio of 0.26. The dividend yield of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. stocks is 0.84%. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. had an annual average earnings growth of 25.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. the business predictability rank of 5-star.

AT&T (T, Financial)

Berkshire cut 21.5% of its stake in AT&T Inc., leaving it with 46,577,138 shares, a 1.22% portfolio weight. The stock’s share price averaged $37.

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AT&T Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on Oct. 5, 1983. AT&T Inc. has a market cap of $225.47 billion; its shares were traded at around $36.65 with a P/E ratio of 41.59 and P/S ratio of 1.43. The dividend yield of AT&T Inc. stocks is 5.17%. AT&T Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 3.0% over the past 10 years.

See more of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings at the portfolio here. Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days.