Warren Buffett buys JPMorgan shares as he ramps up bets on the financials

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) just revealed its recent stock moves and the “Oracle of Omaha” is making a big bet on financials.

During the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway snapped up a new position in JPMorgan Chase (JPM) of 35.6 million shares, making it the 10th largest stock holding.’

It’s notable because the 88-year-old investor has publicly praised JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon for years, but had not owned the stock. A huge fan of Dimon’s annual letter, Buffett told Yahoo Finance’s editor-in-chief earlier this year that he made a “mistake” not investing in the bank’s stock.

“I should’ve [invested],” Buffett said at the time. “Very obviously. I mean, it’s been a terrifically run operation. And it was very cheap, just like a number of others were.”

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Elsewhere, Berkshire added to its positions in Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) by 29% and 38%, respectively. Berkshire added 198.24 million shares to Bank of America, bringing its stake to 877.24 million, making it the No. 2 largest equity holding.

Buffett also added to Bank of New York Mellon (BK) increasing the position by 20% during the third quarter. A new position in financials is PNC Financial (PNC).

Buffett trimmed Wells Fargo (WFC) by about 2% selling just over 9.6 million shares. Wells Fargo remained a top 3 stock holding with a stake of 442.36 million shares.

In other moves, Berkshire initiated a new position is Oracle (ORCL), a stake of 41 million shares. Meanwhile, Buffett exited Walmart (WMT), selling all 1,393,513 during the third quarter.


Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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