17 May 2023

Warren Buffett invests nearly $1 billion in credit card issuer Capital One

Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led by well-known investor Warren Buffett, on Monday released its stock portfolio for the first quarter of this year.

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Buffett's latest investment reflects his confidence in the credit card industry and consumer financial stability, despite the ongoing financial turmoil that has affected various regional banks in the US. A significant new addition to Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio is Virginia-based Capital One, the third largest issuer of Visa and Mastercard credit cards in the United States. Capital One boasts a significant presence in auto financing and commercial banking. Its peers include companies such as American Express and Bread Financial Holdings.

In addition to this investment, Berkshire Hathaway sold significant positions in BNY Mellon, US Bancorp and Taiwan Semiconductor during the first quarter for $2.4 billion, $3.1 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively. Berkshire also revealed a reduction in its stake in oil giant Chevron by about 20%. On the other hand, Warren Buffett increased his stake in another oil company, Occidental Petroleum, by 8.93% during the first quarter and acquired 17.35 million shares. Occidental Petroleum now represents 4.17% of the company's stock portfolio.

Berkshire Hathaway's $325.11 billion equity portfolio includes 48 stocks as of March 31. Remarkably, the company's five largest holdings (Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Coca-Cola and Chevron) together account for more than half of the total value of its portfolio.

Shares of Capital One Financial saw a significant increase of nearly 6% during Tuesday's trading, reaching $94 per share.