Berkshire invests in Express Scripts, makes confidential disclosure
By Luciana Lopez and Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc disclosed a new stake in healthcare management company Express Scripts Holding Co and shed its stake in agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co, among several changes in its stock investments during the third quarter.
In a regulatory filing on Friday, Berkshire also revealed it has disclosed confidential information about its investments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC often allows Buffett to do make such disclosures to let him amass a large investment without worrying about copycat investors. Berkshire disclosed last week that it had bought more than $2.3 billion (1.5 billion pounds) of equity securities in the third quarter.
Berkshire bought 449,489 shares of Express Scripts in the quarter. The stake was worth $31.7 million as of Sept. 30, making it among Berkshire's smallest holdings.
Shares of Express Scripts rose 0.9 percent in after-hours trading to $78.55. Companies' shares often rise when Berkshire reveals stakes because some investors consider it a vote of confidence by Buffett.
The billionaire "seems like he's getting more so all in on the consumer," said Tony Scherrer, director of research at Smead Capital Management in Seattle. Smead is a Berkshire stockholder.
But he noted that Buffett, ranked by Forbes magazine as the world’s third-richest person, has focussed more attention recently on buying whole businesses than stocks.
Berkshire on Thursday agreed to swap $4.7 billion of Procter & Gamble Co stock for that company’s Duracell battery business, which will include about $1.7 billion of cash.
In Friday's filing, Berkshire did not disclose who made which investments.
Buffett has said he generally makes larger investments such as Wells Fargo & Co and Coca-Cola Co, while his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who invest smaller sums, make other investments, especially in sectors he is less familiar with.
During the quarter, Berkshire raised its share stakes in several companies including DirecTV, General Motors, MasterCard and Suncor Energy. It also cut stakes in Bank of New York Mellon, ConocoPhillips, National Oilwell Varco and Phillips 66. The Deere stake was originally made two years ago.
U.S. regulators require large investors to disclose their stock holdings quarterly, but they need not list short positions or many foreign investments.
Berkshire ended September with about $118.9 billion of equities, mostly on U.S. exchanges. It also owns more than 80 businesses ranging from ice cream to insurance to railroads.
(Reporting by Luciana Lopez and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Tom Brown and Leslie Adler)
