Berkshire Hathaway Picks Stake In Exxon Mobil In Q3, Cuts ConocoPhillips Stake

(RTTNews) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.'s (BRKa, BRKb) U.S. equity portfolio was worth $92.0 billion at the end of the third quarter 2013, up from $89.0 billion at the end of the second quarter, a regulatory filing showed Thursday.

As per a regulatory requirement, companies that control an investment portfolio of more than $100 million are required to report its U.S. stock holdings 45 days after the end of each quarter.

The quarterly filing shows major changes in the company's investments in two oil sector companies compared to the second quarter. The company has made a major investment in energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and slashed its stake in another oil company ConocoPhillips (COP).

According to the quarterly holdings statement, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company has made a new investment in Exxon Mobil of 40 million shares valued at $3.45 billion.

The company has also slightly raised its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), U.S. Bancorp. (USB) and Suncor Energy, Inc. (SU), the filing shows.

At the same time, the filing revealed that Berkshire has nearly halved its stake in ConocoPhillips to 13.5 million shares, and trimmed its holdings in British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK).

However, Berkshire has not changed its positions in the big four holdings, Coca Cola Co. (KO), American Express Co. (AXP), technology giant International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), a Buffet favorite.

The company has also maintained its large positions in Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), and retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), as well as other smaller stakes in automaker General Motors Co, (GM), Paramount studios owner Viacom, Inc. (VIA), healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Kraft Foods, Inc. (KFT), and John Malone-controlled Liberty Media Corp. (LMCA).

Meanwhile, as Berkshire has been granted permission by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to keep some holdings information confidential for now, some of the changes in holdings might not have been revealed in the filing.

Buffet's stock picks are closely watched by money managers and other investors as an indicator of market movements in the future.

Berkshire's Class B shares closed Thursday's regular trading session at $115.69, up $0.88 or 0.77% on a volume of 2.65 million shares. The company's Class A shares closed at $173,320, up $1170.00 or 0.68% on a volume of 659 shares.