Since taking over the role as Berkshire's chief in the mid-1960s, the aptly named "Oracle of Omaha" has overseen a cumulative return in his company's Class A shares (BRK.A) of greater than 5,180,000%, and has practically doubled up the average annual total return, including dividends, of the benchmark S&P 500. When you consistently crush the most widely followed index in the return column, you're going to draw an audience.
Buffett's phenomenal investment returns are what lure in the neighborhood of 40,000 people annually to Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. It's also what causes investors to wait on pins and needles for the release of the company's Form 13F. A 13F is a document filed on a quarterly basis with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that shows investors which stocks Wall Street's brightest minds have been buying and selling.
But the biggest surprise isn't always what's in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F. Rather, it's the buying activity for Warren Buffett's favorite stock, which won't be found in a 13F filed with the SEC.
Buffett has been a net-seller of equities for seven consecutive quarters
Even though Berkshire has yet to file its 13F for the second quarter — it'll be filed with the SEC following the close of trading on August 14 — the company's second-quarter cash flow statement points to a similar trend we've witnessed since the start of October 2022. Namely, Buffett and his top investment aides, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, have been persistent net-sellers of equities.
The fair value estimate for Berkshire's position in Apple, as of the end of the second quarter, points to a nearly 50% reduction in Berkshire's stake in the tech giant. Further, Buffett and his crew sold shares of Bank of America, Berkshire's second-biggest holding by market value, for 12 consecutive trading sessions (July 17 – August 1), as of this writing.
Altogether, Buffett and Co. have been net-sellers of equities for seven consecutive quarters, with approximately $131.6 billion more in securities sold than purchased. This has ballooned Berkshire's cash pile to an all-time record $277 billion.
To be fair, Buffett and his team have done some buying — it's just been very selective.
For instance, 13Fs and Form 4 filings with the SEC show that the Oracle of Omaha has been adding with some degree of regularity to oil and gas stock Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) since the start of 2022. In a span of roughly 30 months, Berkshire's brightest investment minds gobbled up more than 255.2 million shares of Occidental.