Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made a series of changes to its massive stock portfolio last quarter, including adding a financial stock amid the recent banking crisis, according to a new regulatory filing. The Omaha-based conglomerate built a new stake in Capital One Financial in the first quarter worth more than $950 million, the filing showed. The McLean, VA-based financial institution fared relatively well during the recent banking turmoil with shares rising more than 3% in the first quarter. Capital One shares rose more than 5% in after-hours trading following the news. It is unclear whether it was Buffett who bought the stock or one of his investing lieutenants, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who oversee about $15 billion each for Berkshire. At the same time, Berkshire dumped its remaining stakes in Bank of New York Mellon and US Bancorp. The “Oracle of Omaha” recently struck a pessimistic note about the health of banks, saying that we are not done with bank failures and that US banks could face more turmoil ahead. The latest turmoil has led to the collapse of three medium-sized institutions since March. The Activision and Paramount conglomerate continued to trim its merger arbitrage play Activision Blizzard last quarter, but the stake was still worth more than $4 billion at the end of March. Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover deal on Monday won approval from the European Union, but it was opposed by US and UK regulators. Berkshire kept its stake in Paramount relatively unchanged at the end of the first quarter. The stock fell more than 30% this month alone after an earnings miss and a big dividend cut. Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual meeting that “it’s not good news when any company approves its dividend or cuts its dividend dramatically.” He also called streaming a tough business. Berkshire’s shares of its two largest holdings – Apple and Bank of America – rose slightly in the first quarter. That’s because, for the first time, Berkshire combined the stake in its Gen Re insurance subsidiary in regulatory reporting. Berkshire acquired Gen Re in 1998 and previously separately reported securities owned by Gen Re’s subsidiary, New England Asset Management. The increase in Berkshire’s HP stake also stemmed from Gen Re. Correction: An earlier version misstated Berkshire’s adjustments to its stakes in Apple, Bank of America and HP. The changes were a result of the inclusion of Gen Re’s stock holdings in the 13F filing.
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