Berkshire Hathaway Overview, History, Stock, & Facts

A high valuation alone isn’t a sign of an imminent correction, because the S&P 500 can remain expensive for years. Buffett himself would tell you he has no idea where the market is going in the short term, but he’s a professional who is required to make decisions that he feels will benefit Berkshire’s shareholders. As I mentioned earlier, Berkshire sold more than half of its stake in Apple during the first half of 2024. Based on Apple’s average stock price during the first and second quarter, that translated to around $100 billion worth of sales. It shows Berkshire Hathaway does not disclose any data about the diversity of its board of directors, C-Suite, general management, and employees overall.

Following the management change, Buffett decided to maintain textiles as the company’s core business, but also used the company as an investment vehicle. As plants began to close and the demand for textiles declined, the core business was changed to insurance services in 1967. Some of the company’s first insurance acquisitions included National Indemnity Company and National Fire & Marine Insurance Company.

Equity Holdings

As one of the most prominent companies in the world, Berkshire Hathaway has made many key acquisitions over its history, from GEICO in 1996 to Precision Castparts in 2016. Additionally, the company has significant equity holdings in companies spanning from Apple and American Express to Coca-Cola and Chevron. As mentioned, Berkshire also owns major equity stakes in large U.S. companies worth hundreds of billions of dollars in total. The success of its “Lubri-Zol” motor oil led it to change its name in 1934 to Lubri-zol, eventually dropping the hyphen. Lubrizol went public in the 1960’s and expanded into a variety of chemical businesses around the world before being bought by Berkshire in 2011. At the time of its acquisition, roughly 70% of its sales came from the aerospace industry, with 17% coming from making turbines for power generation companies.

It spent approximately $38 billion acquiring shares in the iPhone maker between 2016 and 2023. Despite Berkshire selling a significant chunk of its stake this year (which I’ll discuss further in a moment), the position is still worth $94.5 billion as of this writing. That accounts for 29.8% of Berkshire’s $317 billion portfolio of publicly traded stocks. Despite these early achievements, Buffett did not reach the pinnacle of his career until much later in life.

hope of a quick 25% gain. Once a good company is identified and purchased at an attractive

The company, categorized under the financials sector and reinsurance industry, owns dozens of companies across various sectors and industries, including insurance, utilities, energy, transportation, manufacturing, and retail. Berkshire also holds significant investments in leading companies such as Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC), and Coca-Cola (KO). Insurance subsidiaries represent a large part of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings. However, the company also manages hundreds of diverse businesses all over the world.

1. Consumer monopolies, selling products where there is no effective competitor, eitherdue to a patent or brand name or similar intangible that makes the product or serviceunique.
2. In this sector, it specializes in investment castings, airfoil castings, forged components, aerostructures, and highly engineered critical fasteners.
3. Some 45 years later – in 1996 – he purchased GEICO’s outstanding stock, officially making the company a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
4. Amid continuing plant closures and share repurchases, Buffett began aggressively acquiring Berkshire stock, allowing him to take control of the company in 1965.

Buffett’s latest moves could spell trouble for the stock market

1. The idea is that the undervalued security’s market value should increase to meet its intrinsic value.
2. Lubrizol went public in the 1960’s and expanded into a variety of chemical businesses around the world before being bought by Berkshire in 2011.
3. He went on to acquire a broad range of companies in industries such as insurance, railroads, manufacturing, gas and electric utilities, and logistics.
4. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on Aug. 30, 1930, Buffett demonstrated a flair for business at a remarkably young age.
5. These includeworldwide advertising agencies, magazine publishers, newspapers, and telecommunicationsnetworks.
6. Plus, Buffett only authorized $345 million worth of buybacks during Q2, which is the least money Berkshire has spent acquiring its own shares since 2018.

By anchoring his personal reputation as a core value for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Buffett hopes to make it a trustworthy brand. The brand promise that lies behind the company’s name translates beyond the American dream to fit with consumer concerns across the world when investing in property – for many the largest purchase they will ever make. Buffett has authorized a whopping $77.8 billion worth of repurchases since 2018, which is twice as much as Berkshire spent building its stake in Apple.

The Complete List of Warren Buffett Companies

Value investing refers to investing in a security with an intrinsic value that’s greater than its market value. The idea is that the undervalued security’s market value should increase to meet its intrinsic value. Warren Buffett is one example of an investor whose focus on value investing has led to incredible success. On May 1, 2021, vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, unofficially announced that Warren Buffett would be succeeded as CEO by Greg Abel when Buffett eventually steps down. Abel’s official title is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and vice chair in charge of noninsurance operations. Warren Buffett is not quite as famous to consumers outside of the US, but he is definitely not in another galaxy.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired PCC in 2016 for $32.1 billion, with Buffett later admitting he had “paid too much” for the manufacturing company. Schedule monthly income from dividend stocks with a monthly payment frequency. Fraught with questions that relate to societal attitudes and those of the present administration. I would not like to have a significant percentage of my net worth invested in tobacco businesses.

GEICO, the acronym for “Government Employees Insurance Company,” originally served federal employees and the military. GEICO had a competitive advantage by being the first major insurer to market directly to customers. Warren Buffett purchased about half of GEICO’s stock over the course of a few decades leading up to 1996, when he purchased the remaining half of the company. GEICO was just one of Buffett’s insurance deals, as he first purchased National Indemnity in 1967. Because insurance premiums are collected up front, and only paid out when and if something happens, insurance companies hold on to a warren buffett company name huge amount of money to cover future payouts.

Berkshire purchased it from Walmart and currently operates more than 80 distribution centers across the U.S. Below, we look in detail at five of the company’s biggest acquisitions. In addition, we list the top five holdings in Berkshire’s $353.8 billion stock portfolio, which Buffett considers to be partial acquisitions. Below are the unadjusted share prices for Berkshire from the time that Buffett first purchased shares in 1962. Discover dividend stocks matching your investment objectives with our advanced screening tools. Learn more about dividend stocks, including information about important dividend dates, the advantages of dividend stocks, dividend yield, and much more in our financial education center.

In this sector, it specializes in investment castings, airfoil castings, forged components, aerostructures, and highly engineered critical fasteners. Its BRK-A shares are known for being the most expensive stock, while BRK-B is much more reasonably priced. ETFs and funds that prioritize investments based on environmental, social and governance responsibility. Helpful articles on different dividend investing options and how to best save, invest, and spend your hard-earned money. Build conviction from in-depth coverage of the best dividend stocks. Buffet has a long-standing aversion to using the services of investment banks via Berkshire Hathaway.97 This dynamic was also reported in Barron’s,98 Insider,99 and Seeking Alpha,100 among others.

Berkshire Hathaway was originally a textiles company, and it was on the brink of failure before Buffett stepped in to buy it in 1965. He was unable to save its legacy business, so he converted it into a holding company for his various investments. Berkshire Hathaway also has significant shareholdings in companies it does not control. For example, since 1989 it has owned between 6% and 10% of the Coca Cola Company, and by 2021 it had acquired more than 5% of Apple stock. Amid continuing plant closures and share repurchases, Buffett began aggressively acquiring Berkshire stock, allowing him to take control of the company in 1965. Buffett has said he likes to invest in companies with an “economic moat,” meaning corporations that possess a sustainable competitive advantage enabling them to protect their business from rivals.