Warren Buffett’s mysterious investments are Verizon and Chevron

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway

disclosed considerable stakes in

Chevron

and

Verizon Communications

at the end of 2020, after having been previously authorized to keep these holdings confidential.

Berkshire (ticker: BRK.B) held 146.7 million shares of Verizon (VZ) in the amount of $ 8.6 billion in late 2020 and 48.5 million shares of Chevron (CVX) in the amount of $ 4 , 1 billion, according to a regulatory document on Tuesday.

Verizon’s stake has increased sharply since the end of the third quarter, when Berkshire owned 58.4 million shares of Verizon for $ 3.4 billion. Chevron’s share increased more modestly in the fourth quarter, from 44.3 million at the end of the third quarter. They were released in a 13-F file for the end of the third quarter and an amended 13-F for the end of the third quarter.

The purchases from Verizon and Chevron were probably orchestrated by Buffett, the CEO, who oversees the company’s huge stock portfolio.

Berkshire requested and received confidentiality from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for Chevron and Verizon holdings at the end of the third quarter, presumably because it continued to build positions in those shares in the fourth quarter and did not want public disclosure in mid-November to stop the accumulation of both stocks.

Berkshire also obtained confidentiality at the end of the third quarter for a $ 386 million stake.

Marsh and McLennan

(MMC) which grew to US $ 499 million at the end of the fourth quarter.

The disclosures solve the mystery of Berkshire’s confidential purchases that sparked speculation about the shares Buffett was buying. Many investors assumed it was one stock, not two major purchases.

Barron’s wrote on Tuesday that the mysterious property was probably a commercial or industrial company based on the Berkshire archives and that Chevron was a possibility.

Chevron rose about 2% in after-hours trading to $ 95 with news of Berkshire’s participation – the shares ended Tuesday’s regular session at $ 93.13. Verizon was almost 3% higher after hours, to $ 55.70, after closing at $ 54.15.

Both purchases are in line with Buffett’s value orientation. Verizon has a low valuation deal for about 10 times the estimated profit for 2021 and yields of 4.6%. It has lagged behind the S&P 500 in recent years and fell 7% last year, while the index rose 16%.

Chevron recovered its lows from last spring, with oil prices rebounding, but it still fell 17% last year. The company is seen as the strongest of the super large global energy companies, with a better balance sheet than its rival

Exxon Mobil

(XOM) and major European rivals such as

Royal Dutch Shell

(RDS.A). Chevron’s dividend yield is 5.6% and this payment is seen as increasingly secure with rising oil prices.

Berkshire has also reduced its stake in

Apple

(AAPL) to 887.2 million shares, according to Tuesday’s filing.

Write to Andrew Bary at [email protected]