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Buffett Watch Q4-2014
#1
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway released its 13F for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014. Below is a summary:

New Stakes
Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR) new 8,438,225 share position
Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) new 4,747,397 share position

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) raised from 7,567,397 shares to 17,096,886 shares (* owned in Q3 but had confidential treatment)

Raised Stakes
CHARTER COMM-A (NASDAQ: CHTR) raised from 4,950,096 shares to 6,198,237 shares
DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) raised from 37,621,152 shares to 38,565,570 shares
DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) raised from 30,000,000 shares to 31,353,468 shares
General Motors (NYSE: GM) raised from 40,000,000 shares to 41,000,000 shares
International Bus. Machines (NYSE: IBM) raised from 70,478,012 shares to 76,971,817 shares
LIBERTY GLOBAL -A- (NASDAQ: LBTYA) raised from 10,401,007 shares to 10,816,324 shares
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) raised from 4,715,400 shares to 5,399,756 shares
Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) raised from 6,202,400 shares to 6,567,600 shares
Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) raised from 2,082,222 shares to 2,853,688 shares
SUNCOR ENERGY, Inc. (NYSE: SU) raised from 18,477,730 shares to 22,354,294 shares
Viacom (NYSE: VIA-B) raised from 7,708,200 shares to 8,634,190 shares
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) raised from 2,146,290 shares to 2,509,290 shares

Lowered Stakes
Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) lowered from 23,377,603 shares to 22,012,603 shares
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) lowered from 6,382,360 shares to 5,258,385 shares

Liquidated Stakes
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) liquidated
Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) liquidated
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) liquidated

Maintained Stakes
American Express Co (NYSE: AXP) maintained 151,610,700 share stake
CHICAGO BRIDGE & IRON CO. (NYSE: CBI) maintained 10,701,110 share stake
The Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO) maintained 400,000,000 share stake
Costco Co. (NASDAQ: COST) maintained 4,333,363 share stake
General Electric (NYSE: GE) maintained 10,585,502 share stake
Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) maintained 12,631,531 share stake
Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC) maintained 107,575 share stake
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) maintained 327,100 share stake
Kraft Foods Group (NASDAQ: KRFT) maintained 192,666 share stake
LEE ENTERPRISES, Inc. (NYSE: LEE) maintained 88,863 share stake
LIBERTY GLOBAL -C- (NASDAQ: LBTYK) maintained 7,346,968 share stake
Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCK) maintained 8,000,000 share stake
LIBERTY MEDIA-A (NASDAQ: LMCA) maintained 4,000,000 share stake
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) maintained 5,382,040 share stake
MEDIA GENERAL, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) maintained 4,646,220 share stake
Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ) maintained 578,000 share stake
Moody's Corp (NYSE: MCO) maintained 24,669,778 share stake
NOW, Inc. (NYSE: DNOW) maintained 1,825,569 share stake
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) maintained 52,793,078 share stake
Sanofi (: SNYNF) maintained 3,905,875 share stake
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) maintained 6,353,727 share stake
USG CORPORATION (NYSE: USG) maintained 39,002,016 share stake
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) maintained 59,400 share stake
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) maintained 80,094,497 share stake
Verisign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) maintained 12,985,000 share stake
VERISK ANLYTCS-A (NASDAQ: VRSK) maintained 1,563,434 share stake
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) maintained 15,000,928 share stake
WABCO HOLDINGS, Inc. (NYSE: WBC) maintained 4,076,325 share stake
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) maintained 60,385,293 share stake
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) maintained 463,458,123 share stake

http://www.streetinsider.com/13Fs/Buffet...81741.html

I'm surprised that uncle Warren liquidated his XOM and COP positions.

Buffett increased his positions in Visa and Phillips66, my two favorite companies over the past few years.

Curious what everyone thinks about his "confidential treatment" status that he was given when buying DE. It just doesn't seem fair, not that it really would have affected me much. I love my DE stake, but I wouldn't have done anything differently if I would have known what he was doing.
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#2
Its really interesting watching Buffett liquidate XOM and COP, Bill Gates liquidating MCD and KO. All these are quality companies that are held in most of the dividend portfolios out there.
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#3
The companies that you cite appear to be quality companies in decline. MCD and KO are becoming less relevant as society's tastes and habits change. XOM and COP pay their dividends via financing and are having greater and greater difficulty in replacing reserves. None will collapse over night, but I think that they all have potential to become dead money value traps.
Alex
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#4
DE sure is jumping today on the news that Buffett increased his stake. It's up over 2% as I type this.

IBM is not enjoying the same thing, up only a half a percent, even though Buffett increased his IBM stake, as well.

Buffett increased his stakes in PSX and V, both of which are down today, but that appears to be due to energy and financials being down as a whole.
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#5
I'm a bit alarmed that Buffet liquidated XOM. It's making me question my XOM holdings...Perhaps I should move this investment into V or MA...?
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#6
(02-18-2015, 02:16 PM)DRILLINDK Wrote: I'm a bit alarmed that Buffet liquidated XOM. It's making me question my XOM holdings...Perhaps I should move this investment into V or MA...?

I don't think anything could make me question my XOM holdings. It's on a very short list of companies that I intend to hold forever.
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#7
I'm relatively new to holding XOM. I'd like to build a core set of stocks I intend to hold forever. XOM, JNJ, PG, O are the ones I have in mind. XOM being the only one I'm holding right now with 37 shares @ $87.25

I know XOM has boatloads of cash, and they're the #1 or #2 biggest company in the world based on market cap, and energy diversification. However, with the gradual movement away from oil to renewable fuels why is XOM a buy and "hold forever" stock? Please excuse my ignorance.
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#8
(02-18-2015, 02:16 PM)DRILLINDK Wrote: I'm a bit alarmed that Buffet liquidated XOM. It's making me question my XOM holdings...Perhaps I should move this investment into V or MA...?

I'm wondering if he just sees more upside in Suncor and Phillips 66. XOM hasn't really sold off all that much with the price decline in oil compared to other stocks in the sector.

Have to remember your goals and holding period may not be the same goals as Berkshire Hathaway.
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#9
First message on the board. Glad I found ya'll, thanks for having me.

XOM was not one of my core holdings, and when the oil slide began I got excited at the prospect of adding it. I decided against it b/c I'm an extremely conservative investor, and there were a few things about XOM that just made me uneasy. My philosophy has always been not to invest unless I feel totally confident based on my values. It likely has cost me, but piece of mind and conviction are IMO extremely improtant.

1) it's gross margin has slid by 10 percent over the last ten years, and is now < 40%.
2) FCF has slid over the last 10 years
3) based on FCF/market cap and PEG it's very expensive still
4) XOM seems to be borrowing against it's future, with a .89 current ratio

With the short term assets/liabilities as they are, plus hedging on oil's continued slide, I can see why he may have wanted to sell.

With all that said, BRK's goals and the goals of the dividend income investor aren't the same thing. If I owned XOM, I wouldn't be interested in what Buffett is doing, as long as dividends continue to be increased. Since I am not a shareholder, I'm not going to at this time initiate a position either.
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#10
Welcome Dash. Good first post. I am a shareholder of XOM so Uncle Warren selling off his stake doesn't really alarm me since we have different goals. Yes XOM does have some problems, but so do all the other stocks out there. I will keep reinvesting their dividend and buy on dips as long as I have money.
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#11
(02-18-2015, 02:45 PM)DRILLINDK Wrote: However, with the gradual movement away from oil to renewable fuels why is XOM a buy and "hold forever" stock?

I'm not worried that oil will become irrelevant in my lifetime. And as renewables gain share, I think the big "oil" companies will work hard to reposition themselves as big "energy" companies. Of course, there could always be some white swan technology breakthrough that provides tons of cheap power, drastically reducing or eliminating our need for oil. That would surely crush the value of the big oil companies. But it would also change the economic landscape so dramatically that its impacts would reverberate throughout the economy in many unpredictable ways.

(02-18-2015, 04:49 PM)Dash Wrote: First message on the board. Glad I found ya'll, thanks for having me.

XOM was not one of my core holdings, and when the oil slide began I got excited at the prospect of adding it. I decided against it b/c I'm an extremely conservative investor, and there were a few things about XOM that just made me uneasy.

Welcome Dash! You certainly pass the first important investor test -- know thyself!
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#12
I agree with Kerim that the big oil companies will be able to stay ahead of new energy developments or shifts. They could either develop new technology themselves or buy it.
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