Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) has been on a buying spree, adding a plethora of positions to its storied portfolio of "Warren Buffett stocks."
Last Wednesday the conglomerate released its stock holdings. Mutual funds and retail investors closely watch the picks to dissect the selections for hints about the company's tactics. Other simply want to mimic Buffett's moves.
This quarter Berkshire disclosed new stakes in General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB), larger positions in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), and a small increased position in International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM).
Declining stakes were noted in Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG).
The Berkshire portfolio ballooned to $89.1 billion on March 31 from $77 billion at the end of 2011. The firm is the largest shareholder in Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Wells Fargo and American Express (NYSE: AXP).
The additions come as Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have tasked former hedge fund managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler with more investing duties. The two were brought into Berkshire to help oversee investments, as Buffett, Berkshire's CEO and chairman, transitions the company for his ultimate departure.
The 81-year-old sage acknowledged that he makes Berkshire's larger bets, while his team of stock pickers is responsible for smaller wagers.
In his widely read shareholder letter in February, Buffett penned, "When our quarterly filings report relatively small holdings, these are not likely to be buys I made but rather holdings denoting purchases by Todd or Ted. They have the brains, judgments and character" to do the job.
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Warren Buffett Stocks: The Oracle of Omaha Sees Something in Avon
Just one month after Coty Inc. got the big kiss-off from Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) following a $10 billion offer for the company, Coty called again - and name-dropped in a gussied up proposal.
On Thursday, privately held Coty came courting Avon once more with a beautified bid of $10.7 billion and the backing of none other than iconic investment guru Warren Buffett.
In a letter to Avon's board, Coty listed Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) as a new equity financing provider, along with German conglomerate Joh A. Benckiser and other anonymous clients of BDT Capital Partners.
Buffett and other financiers helped push up Coty's newest offer from $23.25 a share to $24.75 a share, a 36% premium to Avon's share price before the original offer was publicly disclosed.
Coty has made it quite clear how much it wants Avon, and adding Buffett to sweeten the deal could be what finally works.
"I don't think there's any better way to get Avon's attention than to say, "I've got the smartest investor in the world, with the deepest pockets in the world behind me, listen up,'" Jeff Matthews, author of "Secrets in Plain Sight: Business & Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett," told Bloomberg News.
But Buffett was won over by BDT's founder, Byron D. Trott, Berkshire's favorite banker.
"He understands Berkshire far better than any investment banker with whom we have talked and - it hurts me to say this - earns his fee," Mr. Buffett wrote in his 2003 letter to shareholders.
Buffett's previous financing ventures include helping Mars Inc.'s $23 billion takeover of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 2008, and providing about $3 billion in equity financing to Dow Chemical Co.'s (NYSE: DOW) $15.4 billion takeover of fellow chemical maker Rohm & Haas.
The Coty letter said the new deal would "provide compelling value to Avon's shareholders" compared with Avon's other option, "a difficult and uncertain multi-year turnaround on a stand-alone basis."
"Given the challenges facing your business, we believe the premium is even higher when considering your potential stock price in the absence of a possible transaction," Coty chairman Bart Becht wrote to Avon.
Avon appeared not to be threatened, and said it would consider the letter in due course.
On Thursday, privately held Coty came courting Avon once more with a beautified bid of $10.7 billion and the backing of none other than iconic investment guru Warren Buffett.
In a letter to Avon's board, Coty listed Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) as a new equity financing provider, along with German conglomerate Joh A. Benckiser and other anonymous clients of BDT Capital Partners.
Buffett and other financiers helped push up Coty's newest offer from $23.25 a share to $24.75 a share, a 36% premium to Avon's share price before the original offer was publicly disclosed.
Coty has made it quite clear how much it wants Avon, and adding Buffett to sweeten the deal could be what finally works.
"I don't think there's any better way to get Avon's attention than to say, "I've got the smartest investor in the world, with the deepest pockets in the world behind me, listen up,'" Jeff Matthews, author of "Secrets in Plain Sight: Business & Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett," told Bloomberg News.
Buffett's Rare Move
The Buffett move is a rare change for the deal maker who customarily shies away from hostile bids, and who is usually an outright buyer instead of financier.But Buffett was won over by BDT's founder, Byron D. Trott, Berkshire's favorite banker.
"He understands Berkshire far better than any investment banker with whom we have talked and - it hurts me to say this - earns his fee," Mr. Buffett wrote in his 2003 letter to shareholders.
Buffett's previous financing ventures include helping Mars Inc.'s $23 billion takeover of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 2008, and providing about $3 billion in equity financing to Dow Chemical Co.'s (NYSE: DOW) $15.4 billion takeover of fellow chemical maker Rohm & Haas.
The Coty letter said the new deal would "provide compelling value to Avon's shareholders" compared with Avon's other option, "a difficult and uncertain multi-year turnaround on a stand-alone basis."
"Given the challenges facing your business, we believe the premium is even higher when considering your potential stock price in the absence of a possible transaction," Coty chairman Bart Becht wrote to Avon.
Avon appeared not to be threatened, and said it would consider the letter in due course.
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