Berkshire reveals new $4.3 billion Alphabet stake, sells more Apple

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -Berkshire Hathaway revealed a $4.3 billion stake in Google parent Alphabet and further reduced its stake in Apple, detailing its equity portfolio for the last time before Warren Buffett ends his 60-year run as chief executive officer. In a filing on Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire said it owned 17.85 million Alphabet shares as of September 30. Berkshire lowered its Apple stake to 238.2 million shares from 280 million in the third quarter, and has now sold nearly three-quarters of the 905 million shares it once held. Apple remained Berkshire's largest stock holding, at $60.7 billion. The filing listed Berkshire's U.S.-listed stock holdings as of September 30, which comprised most of the conglomerate's $283.2 billion equity portfolio. Berkshire's investment in Alphabet is surprising given Buffett's usual value-investing style and aversion to investing in technology companies. Buffett considers Apple, which makes the iPhone, more of a consumer products company. It is not clear whether Buffett, his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, or CEO-designate Greg Abel make specific purchases, though Buffett normally makes larger investments. At Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in 2019, Buffett and late Vice Chairman Charlie Munger lamented not investing in Google. Buffett said its advertising model bore similarities to what was working for Berkshire's Geico car insurance unit. "We screwed up," Munger said. "He's saying we blew it," Buffett responded. Alphabet shares rose 1.7% in after-hours trading. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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