Warren Buffett has a reputation as a buy and hold investor. One of his most well known quotes is:“My Favorite Holding Period is Forever”
In practice, Warren Buffett does not always hold forever. This article shows what happened to the top 10 stock positions in Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A, BRK-B) portfolio at the end of 2006. Warren Buffett has held fewer stocks than you may think for the long run. Berkshire Hathaway’s top 10 stocks in the 4th quarter of 2006 were:
10. Graham Holding Company
Graham Holdings Company is better known by its previous name, The Washington Post. The company changed its name in 2013 when Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post paper for $250 million. The Graham Holdings Company owns Slate, education publisher Kaplan, several large market television stations, and internet service provider Cable One.
Warren Buffett has a long history with the Washington Post. He started purchasing shares in 1973. Warren Buffett held the stock over 40 years before finally exiting in 2014, after the paper was purchased by Jeff Bezos of Amazon (AMZN). Warren Buffett did not outright sell his shares, but instead exchanged them for WPLG, Miami’s ABC affiliated television station. In addition, Berkshire Hathaway received shares of itself that were owned by Graham Holdings Company, as well as cash.
9. ConocoPhillips
Warren Buffett recently sold Berkshire Hathaway’s ConocoPhillips stock completely. By the end of 2006, ConocoPhillips was Berkshire Hathaway’s 9th largest holding. Buffett continued to add shares as oil prices soared in 2007 and 2008. Warren Buffett purchased ConocoPhillips during the idea of ‘peak oil’.
Now, Warren Buffett has completely exited his position in ConocoPhillips (as well as his position in ExxonMobil, XOM) just as oil prices have fallen precipitously. Warren Buffett is obviously a fantastic investor; perhaps the greatest of all time. He is still fallible, however. Buying oil stocks during high oil prices, and selling during low oil price is not sound investing. I believe Warren Buffett’s poor timing in his ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil trades could go down as one of the worst in his investment career. Only time will tell. In total, Warren Buffett held ConocoPhillips under 10 years.
