Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. buys a position in Kinder Morgan
by Josh Funk, The Associated Press
Berkshire owns about 90 subsidiaries in a variety of industries, including insurance, utilities, railroads, retail and manufacturing
Workers install pipe in Jasper National Park as part of the Anchor Loop Project. PHOTO Kinder Morgan Canada
Warren Buffett’s conglomerate filed an update on its U.S. stock holdings at the end of the year with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
It said it owned 26.5 million shares of Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc. at the end of December. Pipelines are a business Buffett understands well because Berkshire’s utility unit owns several natural gas pipeline companies.
Berkshire did not report any shares of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., which builds energy infrastructure projects. At the end of September, it held 1.98 million shares.
Buffett’s remarkably successful track record means that many investors look for ideas to copy in these quarterly filings.
But the combined filing also includes investments made by two other Berkshire executives who manage part of the company’s $132 billion stock portfolio.
That means it’s not always clear which investments Buffett made himself, but he has said previously that investments smaller than $300 million are likely to be the work of other Berkshire managers.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate also made changes to several other investments during the quarter:
- Buffett’s company now holds 22.88 million Deere & Co. shares, up from 17.05 million last fall.
- It bought more than 9 million Wells Fargo & Co. shares to give it 479.7 million shares of the bank
- Buffett’s company reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. to leave it with 46.6 million shares, down from 59.3 million.
- Berkshire added to its Liberty Global PLC holdings to give it 9.1 million shares, up from 8.5 million.
- It reduced its stake in Wabco Holdings Inc. to 1.69 million shares, from 1.92 million.
Besides investments in companies such as Coca-Cola Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and American Express Co., Berkshire owns about 90 subsidiaries in a variety of industries, including insurance, utilities, railroads, retail and manufacturing.
