In 1973, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) held its first annual meeting in the cafeteria of one of its subsidiaries and brought together a few dozen people. Last weekend, about 40,000 investors attended Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
The insatiable lure of these investors is the ability to listen investing great Warren Buffett talk for hours about his business, the American economy and the stock market. After all, the “Oracle of Omaha,” as the investment community jovially calls him, has generated an aggregate return of nearly 4,900,000% for his company’s (BRK.A) Class A shareholders since he became CEO in the mid-1960s, and nearly doubled in size. increase the annualized total return, including dividends, of the benchmark index S&P500 on the same timeline.
While plenty of investing knowledge was bestowed upon shareholders at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting, it was the company’s first-quarter operating results that really stole the show – and didn’t. given little reason for optimists to rejoice.
Warren Buffett’s Short-Term Actions Don’t Always Align With His Long-Term Investing Philosophy
Throughout his tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the Oracle of Omaha made it clear that he would “never bet against America.” He and his team, which included the affably nicknamed “the architect of Berkshire Hathaway” Charlie Munger until his death in November, were firm believers in buying stakes in great companies at a fair price and simply letting time work its magic.
However, what Warren Buffett preaches in front of 40,000 people and what he and his top investment advisors, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, do on shorter time frames don’t always match up.
During the quarter ended in March, Berkshire’s consolidated cash flow statement shows that $2.691 billion in stock purchases were overseen, as well as (drumroll) $19.972 billion in equity sales . This equates to $17.281 billion in net sales activity during the first quarter.
But here’s the thing: it’s the sixth consecutive quarter Buffett and his team are net sellers of stocks.
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During the fourth quarter of 2023, $0.525 billion in net stock sales were completed.
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In the third quarter of 2023, net sales of equity securities of $5.253 billion were realized.
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For the second quarter of 2023, Buffett was a net seller of $7.981 billion in stocks.
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During the first quarter of 2023, Buffett and his team oversaw $10.41 billion in net stock sales.
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In the fourth quarter of 2022, Berkshire’s brightest minds were net sellers of $14.64 billion in shares.
Collectively, Warren Buffett and his top investment associates have overseen $56.09 billion in total net stock sales since October 1, 2022.
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