At the end of 2025, Warren Buffett stepped down from the post of CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA 0.22%) (BRKB 0.53%) -- the company he helped build and run for more than 60 years. His long-planned successor is Greg Abel, who has been with Berkshire for many years, leading its energy operations.
Buffett may not be the top dog anymore, but he's still very much involved in Berkshire (even at his age of 95 and three-quarters!), and many investors are still very interested in what stocks the company is buying -- or selling. Here's a look at recent and potential stock activity at Berkshire Hathaway.
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Abel did a lot of selling recently
Before discussing which stocks were (or may have been) purchased in the first quarter, it's worth noting that the quarterly 13F filing from Berkshire released last week revealed the closure of positions in 16 stocks. That may seem like a lot of activity so soon into Abel's tenure, but there's a possible explanation: Until recently, Buffett had delegated the responsibility of investing many billions of dollars to two lieutenants, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. But Combs recently departed Berkshire, joining JPMorgan Chase. So some or many of the sales may have been of stocks that Combs had chosen.
The completely closed-out positions included Visa, Mastercard, UnitedHealth Group, Domino's Pizza, and Amazon, with the Amazon and UnitedHealth sales most surprising to some.
Here's what Abel could be buying
So what might Abel be buying now that will be revealed in the next 13F filing a few months from now? One strong possibility is more of the same. While many small investors buy or sell a stock now and then, huge investors like Berkshire will often build (or shed) a position over time -- because if they tried to do so all at once, it would likely adversely influence the share price up (or down).
The Q1 report showed that Abel's biggest move was buying a lot more shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL +4.79%)(GOOG +4.96%) -- 36.4 million shares' worth. As that quarter ended, Berkshire owned more than 54 million shares of Alphabet, making up nearly 6% of Berkshire's total stock portfolio.
Berkshire still owns less than 1% of Alphabet, and it's sitting on a cash pile that approaches $400 billion. So it's not crazy to think that Abel might simply be buying more of Alphabet. Perhaps even another 36.4 million shares, which, at a recent share price of $389, would cost a mere $14.15 billion.
Other current holdings that Abel might add to include Apple, American Express, and Occidental Petroleum, among many others in the Berkshire portfolio. In the last quarter, Abel added to a position in The New York Times Co. and homebuilder Lennar, and he may keep adding to those for a while, as well.
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Another stock Berkshire is buying
Another stock that Berkshire has been buying is... Berkshire. Abel has authorized share repurchases of up to $325 million of the company's own stock -- a move that benefits shareholders, because when there are fewer shares, each remaining one is worth more.
Indeed, Abel is even reportedly spending all of his after-tax salary of $15 million on Berkshire stock, in a move that certainly telegraphs confidence in the company's future.
