Berkshire Hathaway Boosts Stakes in Delta and Alphabet While Reducing Bank of America Holding
In its second full quarter under new CEO Ajit Jain, Berkshire Hathaway increased its positions in Delta Air Lines and Alphabet, repurchased shares, and trimmed its stake in Bank of America.
Berkshire Hathaway added 17.5 million shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter, raising the value of the holding to about $5.37 billion by the end of June, according to a filing on Friday. The firm also increased its position in Alphabet, making it its third-largest holding with a market value of roughly $37.8 billion after acquiring an additional 48.1 million shares.
During the same period, Berkshire repurchased approximately $4.5 billion of its own stock and added a net of nearly $20 billion in other equities, as reported in its second-quarter results. The conglomerate’s cash balance stood at $365.5 billion at midyear, down from a record $397 billion at the end of March.
The company completed a $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home Corp. and invested $10 billion in Alphabet to support artificial-intelligence initiatives. Berkshire also increased its stake in homebuilder Lennar Corp., bringing the holding to about $1.21 billion.
Berkshire continued to reduce its ownership in Bank of America, now holding 6.8 % of the lender’s shares. Separately, the Gates Foundation sold roughly 2.4 million Berkshire Class B shares, lowering its stake to $7.35 billion at quarter’s end.