By Karen Langley

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold some Bank of America and Capital One Financial shares and all of its Citigroup stake earlier this year.

The Omaha, Neb., company doubled its holdings of Pool Corp. and Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and Corona beer in the U.S., according to a regulatory filing made public after the market closed Thursday.

Berkshire maintained its position in Apple, its biggest stockholding, for a second consecutive quarter after selling much of it earlier last year. Berkshire's stake in the iPhone maker was worth $66.6 billion on March 31. At Berkshire's annual meeting, held May 2 in Omaha, Buffett praised the leadership of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Institutional investors managing at least $100 million in U.S. stocks and certain other equities are required to disclose their holdings as of the end of each quarter in Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors have 45 days to submit the filings, so they provide an out-of-date glimpse at stock portfolios. Still, observers scrutinize Berkshire's filing to see what moves Buffett and his investing deputies have made recently.

Berkshire was a net seller of stocks in the first quarter, buying $3.2 billion of equity securities while unloading around $4.7 billion, according to its financial statements.

Berkshire continued to unload three financial stocks it had also sold in late 2024. In the quarter that ended in March, Berkshire sold 7.2% of its stake in Bank of America and 4% of Capital One. The company shed all of its remaining Citi shares.

Berkshire also slashed its holdings in Liberty Media by nearly half.

The company's pile of cash and Treasury bills climbed to a record $333 billion, after accounting for a payable for purchasing some of the short-term government debt, financial statements released earlier showed. Observers have been watching to see when Buffett will find opportunities to put that money to work.

Buffett surprised the investing world at Berkshire's annual meeting earlier this month by saying he would step down as chief executive at the end of the year. At 94, the legendary investor is finally feeling his age, he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview this week.

Berkshire's board has approved the promotion of Greg Abel, who oversees the company's noninsurance subsidiaries, to president and chief executive effective Jan. 1. Buffett will continue to serve as chairman of Berkshire's board.

The latest Form 13F filing captures Berkshire's U.S. stockholdings as of March 31, days before President Trump announced sweeping tariff plans that unsettled the market. The S&P 500 fell 12% over four trading days before turning higher and has since recouped its losses.

Asked at the annual meeting if the recent volatility had presented Berkshire with opportunities, Buffett played down the episode.

"This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort," he said.

Berkshire's Class B shares have rallied 12% this year, while the S&P 500 has edged up 0.6%.

Write to Karen Langley at karen.langley@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2025 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.