Berkshire Hathaway increases Apple position to $1.46B

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited August 2016
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took advantage of a dip in Apple's share price during the second quarter, increasing its stake in the company to $1.46 billion as of June 30.


Source: Reuters


During the second quarter of 2016, Berkshire Hathaway increased its position in Apple by some 5.4 million shares, putting the investment firm's holdings at 15.2 million shares, according to an SEC filing released on Monday.

As noted by Bloomberg, Buffett's move capitalizes on a series of tough quarters for Apple. During the three-month period ending in June, Apple saw its share prices tumble 12 percent to $95.60 per share, while a contraction in iPhone sales the quarter prior spurred the company's first revenue decline in 13 years.

Berkshire bought in to Apple with a purchase of 9.81 million shares earlier this year, around the same time that activist investor Carl Icahn decided to dump his shares. The move that raised eyebrows as Buffett traditionally steers clear of technology holdings, but it was later learned that deputy investment managers executed the buy.

AAPL was at $109.48 when the markets closed on Monday.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    Carl Icahn and Kevin O'Leary should learn from Berkshire.
    lordjohnwhorfinDeelronlatifbpmelodyof1974
  • Reply 2 of 16
    Icahn is a despicable scam artist who is expert at leveraging his name and reputation to make money off the stock he buys or sells. He's nothing but a leech on the system. Meanwhile, instead of going for a quick buck, Icahn is using Wall Street the way it was designed to be used, and makes more money doing so. It's not just Icahn, but all of Wall Street and day traders that should learn a lesson. Pick companies you believe in and stay for the long term. In the early days of E*Trade, they offered you a free $100 if you opened an account and invested at least $1,000, so I ended up with $1,100 worth of Apple stock. Sold them last year to buy a Model S.
    TomEbaconstangjcdinkinsh2p
  • Reply 3 of 16
    Icahn is a despicable scam artist who is expert at leveraging his name and reputation to make money off the stock he buys or sells. He's nothing but a leech on the system. Meanwhile, instead of going for a quick buck, IcahnBuffett/Berkshire is using Wall Street the way it was designed to be used, and makes more money doing so. It's not just Icahn, but all of Wall Street and day traders that should learn a lesson. Pick companies you believe in and stay for the long term. In the early days of E*Trade, they offered you a free $100 if you opened an account and invested at least $1,000, so I ended up with $1,100 worth of Apple stock. Sold them last year to buy a Model S.
    I think that's what you mean.
    edited August 2016 Deelronbaconstanglatifbpcnocbuih2p
  • Reply 4 of 16
    TomETomE Posts: 172member
    And in the early days of Apple when no one on Wall Street wanted any of AAPL, I did a similar thing.  I have sold & repurchased several times.  I have not bought a Tesla S, but don't have to work.  Yes, it goes up and down.  Better to buy low and buy some more when you can.  For go the fast bucks.  Icahn & the other "Investment" managers are scamming the system.

    Go BRK.  Keep the stock please & reinvest the dividends.  I only disagree with those who want to give away the farm or the benefits to those who want to beat the system by being leeches.  I don't mind welfare or aid, but when they have a better car, cell phone, or free housing & utilities, they have no interest in working.  I see it every day in South Georgia. Parasites that are beyond what you might even imagine.  At what point do we take them off the system ?  I don't see an end in sight here because the local government thinks they should grow, grow, grow and tax, tax, tax.  I hope Trump or someone who is wise to this goes into office and there is some kind of freeze on government spending + an automatic reduction of an acceptable amount to cut the desire of government to grow.  There is no incentive for government to shrink or for people to look for ways to get off welfare.  i am tired of paying for the free ride.

    If you live in a "grant city", that is what I call cities that are based upon free grants, I feel sympathy for you as well as for myself.  If Hillary goes into office, I am leaving.  Passport is ready.

    edited August 2016 tallest skilh2p
  • Reply 5 of 16
    Icahn is a despicable scam artist who is expert at leveraging his name and reputation to make money off the stock he buys or sells. He's nothing but a leech on the system. Meanwhile, instead of going for a quick buck, IcahnBuffett/Berkshire is using Wall Street the way it was designed to be used, and makes more money doing so. It's not just Icahn, but all of Wall Street and day traders that should learn a lesson. Pick companies you believe in and stay for the long term. In the early days of E*Trade, they offered you a free $100 if you opened an account and invested at least $1,000, so I ended up with $1,100 worth of Apple stock. Sold them last year to buy a Model S.
    I think that's what you mean.
    Berkshire does not tweet about their AAPL holdings.  Icahn did.
    ai46
  • Reply 6 of 16
    TomE said:
    I am leaving.  Passport is ready.
    There’s nowhere else in the world that is better, so I hope you just mean leaving said city.
    latifbp
  • Reply 7 of 16
    Buffet's basic principles of investing are sound advice, but I am convinced Warren Buffet had nothing to do with this trade. He only invests in things he understands and he has never cozied up to tech much (besides a Chinese car company which has gone nowhere). He's transitioning out of his leadership role and turning over the reigns to a replacement...reluctantly!
  • Reply 8 of 16
    Incidentally, Apple continues to be criticized over their tax minimization efforts, but at least Tim is hitting back now:  

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/wp/2016/08/13/2016/08/13/tim-cook-the-interview-running-apple-is-sort-of-a-lonely-job/

    A few choice quotes:
    Did the FBI fight change how you view the mandate of your job?

    Customers should have an expectation that they shouldn’t need a PhD in computer science to protect themselves. So I think they depend on us to do some things on their behalf. So with that responsibility comes an obligation to stand up. And, in this case, it was unbelievably uncomfortable and not something that we wished for, wanted — we didn’t even think it was right. Honestly? I was shocked that they would even ask for this. That was the thing that was so disappointing that I think everybody lost in the whole thing. There are 200-plus other countries in the world. Zero of them had ever asked this.


    When Steve handed you the reins, he said Apple had never had an orderly transition of CEO, and he wanted that to happen. What are you doing now to make sure the next transition, whenever it happens, is orderly?

    At the end of every board meeting, I discuss succession with the board because I might step off the wrong curb or something. We have the good discipline to do that. Then my role is to make sure that the board has great candidates to pick from internally. And I take that role extremely seriously. Look around at the great people I get to work with — there’s some really just superb talent in the company.


    We were talking about getting advice from people before your first testimony on Capitol Hill. That hearing focused on the corporate taxes Apple pays. Apple is now awaiting a European Union ruling on whether you owe billions in back taxes, and corporate tax reform is a big election-year issue. Does either a Trump or a Clinton campaign give you or the company any hope that there could be corporate tax reform anytime soon?

    I think it’s in the best interest of the U.S. to have corporate tax reform, regardless of which political party is in charge of the White House. Because if you look at it, the U.S. rules today are that international companies like us and many others can keep their earnings that they earn overseas overseas, and then when they bring them back it triggers the tax liability.
    What I’ve always felt should happen is that every dollar should be taxed immediately with no deferral. But as a consequence of doing that, you should have free flow of capital. What would happen is if a system like that were put in place, it should have more investment going into the United States. We’re the only major country in the world that has a system like this. It’s not good for the U.S., it’s not good for the economy, it’s not good for jobs, it’s not good for investments.
    I think there’s wide agreement to that in both parties, by the way. There’s a difference of view with different people about how to fix it, but I think everybody agrees the current system isn’t working. So I’m optimistic that, in 2017, there will be some sort of corporate tax reform. The U.S. needs to invest more in infrastructure — so what would be great is, if they take the tax proceeds of a corporate tax reform and invest it in infrastructure and roads and bridges and airports.


    What do you say in response to Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz’s comments on Bloomberg [television], where he called Apple’s profit reporting in Ireland a “fraud”?

    I didn’t hear it. But if anybody said that, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Let me explain what goes on with our international taxes. The money that’s in Ireland that he’s probably referring to is money that is subject to U.S. taxes. The tax law right now says we can keep that in Ireland or we can bring it back. And when we bring it back, we will pay 35 percent federal tax and then a weighted average across the states that we’re in, which is about 5 percent, so think of it as 40 percent. We’ve said at 40 percent, we’re not going to bring it back until there’s a fair rate. There’s no debate about it. Is that legal to do or not legal to do? It is legal to do. It is the current tax law. It’s not a matter of being patriotic or not patriotic. It doesn’t go that the more you pay, the more patriotic you are.


    edited August 2016 fastasleeplatifbpjasenj1
  • Reply 9 of 16
    A Warren Buffett quote I like is, "Buy a great company at a fair price, rather than a fair company at a great price.”
    edited August 2016 SpamSandwichmelodyof1974ai46
  • Reply 10 of 16
    focherfocher Posts: 687member
    TomE said:

    If Hillary goes into office, I am leaving.  Passport is ready.
    Which airline and destination did you book? Somalia still has an excellent, government and regulation free economy.
    fastasleepai46
  • Reply 11 of 16
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    focher said:
    Which airline and destination did you book? Somalia still has an excellent, government and regulation free economy.
    Fun fact. Somalia as a failed state has a higher GDP than it did under communism.

    oops.
    latifbp
  • Reply 12 of 16
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    TomE said:

    I hope Trump or someone who is wise to this goes into office 

    Which one?
    ai46
  • Reply 13 of 16
    TomE said:
    And in the early days of Apple when no one on Wall Street wanted any of AAPL, I did a similar thing.  I have sold & repurchased several times.  I have not bought a Tesla S, but don't have to work.  Yes, it goes up and down.  Better to buy low and buy some more when you can.  For go the fast bucks.  Icahn & the other "Investment" managers are scamming the system.

    Go BRK.  Keep the stock please & reinvest the dividends.  I only disagree with those who want to give away the farm or the benefits to those who want to beat the system by being leeches.  I don't mind welfare or aid, but when they have a better car, cell phone, or free housing & utilities, they have no interest in working.  I see it every day in South Georgia. Parasites that are beyond what you might even imagine.  At what point do we take them off the system ?  I don't see an end in sight here because the local government thinks they should grow, grow, grow and tax, tax, tax.  I hope Trump or someone who is wise to this goes into office and there is some kind of freeze on government spending + an automatic reduction of an acceptable amount to cut the desire of government to grow.  There is no incentive for government to shrink or for people to look for ways to get off welfare.  i am tired of paying for the free ride.

    If you live in a "grant city", that is what I call cities that are based upon free grants, I feel sympathy for you as well as for myself.  If Hillary goes into office, I am leaving.  Passport is ready.

    Come to the Netherlands! We are good with refugiees...
    h2p
  • Reply 14 of 16
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    focher said:
    TomE said:

    If Hillary goes into office, I am leaving.  Passport is ready.
    Which airline and destination did you book? Somalia still has an excellent, government and regulation free economy.
    You need a new shtick. This is from three years ago:  http://tomwoods.com/blog/but-somalia/
    tallest skillatifbp
  • Reply 15 of 16
    I buy AAPL every so often when the price dips, either for myself or for the grandkids' college fund. My initial purchases were modest, but bought at a split-adjusted price of 36¢ each. I have never sold any AAPL. Financial advisors think I am nuts.
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