Warren Buffett made a slew of stock moves last quarter — here are the highlights

Published Tue, Feb 16 20214:35 PM ESTUpdated Tue, Feb 16 20216:15 PM EST

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made a slew of big changes to its equity portfolio in the fourth quarter, including adding new positions in Verizon and Chevron as well as trimming its massive Apple stake. Here's a complete breakdown of the Buffett's latest moves. The conglomerate bought more than 48 million Chevron shares, worth $4.1 billion, by the end of the fourth quarter, according to a quarterly 13F regulatory filing Tuesday. It also added 146.7 million shares of Verizon, worth $8.6 billion, as well as $499 million worth of Marsh & McClennan shares as of Dec. 31. Berkshire continued to trim its lucrative Apple stake, cutting by about 6%, or 57.2 million shares, to around 877 million shares. The tech giant remained the biggest equity holding in the portfolio. Berkshire reaped billions of dollars from Apple in 2020 after the stock soared more than 80% as one of the best performers during an unprecedented year. Cut banks, add health care Buffett's conglomerate also appeared to dial back its exposure to financials. Berkshire exited its JPMorgan position after dramatically dumping most of the investment in the third quarter. Its Wells Fargo stake was cut by nearly 60% by the end of the fourth quarter. Berkshire also closed its small bet in PNC . Meanwhile, Berkshire ramped up its investments in a few drug stocks last quarter. It increased its Merck stake by 28% to about $2.3 billion as of Dec. 31, while firming its bets on Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie. Elsewhere, the conglomerate increased its Kroger stake by 34% to 33.5 million shares. Berkshire also closed its relatively new position in miner Barrick Gold . The investment caught many by surprise when Berkshire disclosed this bet in the second quarter of 2020 as Buffett has long professed a dislike for gold, preferring assets that have cash flow. As of the end of the fourth quarter, Berkshire maintained its stakes in Bank of America , Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz , American Express , U.S. Bancorp , DaVita , Moody's and Bank of New York Mellon. Four times a year, investors file their long positions with the SEC, and the information is released to the public 45 days after each quarter ends. These positions reflect either Buffett's buys or those of the two fund managers Ted Weschler and Todd Combs who work for him at Berkshire.

Warren Buffett during an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick on February 24, 2020. It turned out to be another year during which the billionaire investor shied away from game-changing acquisitions.

Gerald Miller | CNBC