- Greg Abel sold Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Amazon in Q1.
- Warren Buffett had bought the stock in 2019.
- Abel tripled his position in Alphab
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel promised to follow the path established by billionaire Warren Buffett when he took over the position earlier this year. Now, the latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed that Abel has made several interesting stock moves.
The Berkshire Hathaway CEO sold all of the company's stock in Amazon in Quarter 1 and tripled his position in an artificial intelligence stock that has jumped over 100% over the past year, as per The Motley Fool.
Buffett rarely made investments in technology companies but has been known to buy shares of firms that are market leaders and certain stocks that have been chosen by his investment managers. Amazon was one such case, with Buffett buying the stock in 2019 and holding on to it.
Buffett held onto Amazon stock since that purchase, and from the end of the first quarter of 2019 through the end of last year, Amazon climbed about 160%. While the company faced some tough times during times of supply chain constraints, it has boosted its earnings and stock price due to a focus on AI and a revamped cost structure.
However, Abel closed out this investment, which represented under 0.2% of Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio. He also tripled his position in Alphabet, a Magnificent Seven firm. Berkshire now holds 54,249,798 of class A Alphabet shares, representing 5.9% of its portfolio.
Apart from this, he also opened a new position in Alphabet's class C shares, which now account for 0.4% of the portfolio. Berkshire holds 3,585,215 of these shares, which carry no voting rights.
While the reason behind Abel's move isn't clear, one thing is certain - Alphabet's stock offers certain advantages. The company owns the Google search engine and also has a presence in AI. This means it provides investors a chance to invest in the AI boom while having the safety and competitive advantage that Buffett prioritises, as per The Motley Fool.
Greg Abel's Other Portfolio Moves
Under Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway has trimmed its stake in Bank of America, Chevron, Nucor and Constellation Brands, International Business Times reported. It has also exited 12 major firms, such as Charter Communications, Diageo, and Allegion.
Under Abel, Berkshire has sold its $1.40 billion stake in Domino's Pizza, $2.91 billion stake in Visa, $1.27 billion worth of stock in Aon PLC and shares worth $2.28 billion in Mastercard.
