Buffett Sells Great Lakes Chem, Level 3 Communications Stakes
Tuesday February 17, 2:06 pm ET
biz.yahoo.com
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRKa - News) , the
investment vehicle for billionaire investor Warren Buffett (News) , reported
disposing of its stakes in Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK - News) , Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (NYSE:DNB - News; DNB), Great Lakes Chemical Corp. (NYSE:GLK - News; GLK0 and Level 3 Communications
during the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2003.
According to a Form 13F filed Tuesday with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (News - Websites) , Berkshire Hathaway beneficially owned positions in 30
companies valued at $34.87 billion on Dec. 31, 2003, compared with positions
in 33 companies valued at $31.04 billion on Sept. 30, 2003.
During the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hathaway sold all 1,418,800
shares of energy company Duke Energy, 136,000 shares of business data
marketer Dun & Bradstreet, 547,700 shares of specialty chemical company Great
Lakes Chemical and 1,644,900 shares of telecommunications firm Level 3
Communications.
On Sept. 30, Berkshire Hathaway's holdings in Duke Energy were worth
$25.3 million, the Dun & Bradstreet stake was valued at $5.6 million, the
Great Lakes Chemical holdings were worth $11 million and the Level 3
Communications stake was valued at $8.9 million.
Berkshire Hathaway reported opening one new holding in the fourth
quarter, purchasing 10 million American Depositary Receipts of candy and soft
drink maker Cadbury Schweppes PLC (NYSE:CSG - News) .
At Dec. 31, 2003, the stake in Cadbury Schweppes was valued at $73.3
million.
Berkshire Hathaway sharply cut its holdings in clothing retailer Gap
Inc. during the fourth quarter, selling 5 million shares to bring its
stake to 15 million shares valued at $348.2 million.
Berkshire Hathaway also made large sales of its holdings in
health-care company HCA Inc. , selling 2,424,200 shares; financial
services firm H&R Block , selling 1,388,300 shares; and in industrial
manufacturing company Dover Corp. (NYSE:DOV - News) , disposing of 1,129,300 shares.
On Dec. 31, 2003, Berkshire Hathaway beneficially owned 15,476,500
HCA shares worth $664.9 million, 14,410,900 shares of H&R Block valued at
$809 million and 2 million Dover Corp. shares worth $79.5 million.
Berkshire Hathaway added to its holdings in only one position during
the quarter, purchasing 3,039 shares of Comdisco Holding Co. , bringing
its stake to just under 1.5 million shares valued at $59.6 million.
Comdisco, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
August 2002, is in the process of selling its remaining assets in order to
distribute the proceeds to shareholders.
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