One of the Berkshire Hathaway’s top stock holdings is food and beverage company Kraft (KFT). GuruFocus data shows that Warren Buffett owns 105,214,584 shares as of 06/30/2010, which accounts for 6.34% of the $46.44 billion portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway.
As heavy as his holdings in this one stock is, Warren Buffett has actually reduced his holdings since the beginning of 2010 from over 138 million shares to about 105 million shares. Buffett disagreed with the price that Kraft paid for Cadbury and made his opposition open. His selling of the stock indicates that he meant what he said – it was not that he was trying to express his dissent as a major shareholder so the Kraft management could get an up hand in the negotiation.
In a recent interview with Forbes, Kraft’s Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld defended the acquisition of Cadbury and talked about how the deal is working for Kraft:
The merger has been viewed largely successful and Kraft's operating results since then has been impressive. Stock prices of Kraft have been trended higher since the merger. I wonder whether Buffett will further reduce his holdings in Kraft after the strong results coming in since the merger. We will know that in about two weeks when he update his latest holding information.
Watch the complete interview here.
Also, check out the other stocks in Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio here.
As heavy as his holdings in this one stock is, Warren Buffett has actually reduced his holdings since the beginning of 2010 from over 138 million shares to about 105 million shares. Buffett disagreed with the price that Kraft paid for Cadbury and made his opposition open. His selling of the stock indicates that he meant what he said – it was not that he was trying to express his dissent as a major shareholder so the Kraft management could get an up hand in the negotiation.
In a recent interview with Forbes, Kraft’s Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld defended the acquisition of Cadbury and talked about how the deal is working for Kraft:
What did you make of Warren Buffett being against the Cadbury deal? How do you justify this deal?
Berkshire Hathaway is one of our largest shareholders. And earlier this year, as many people know, Warren Buffett expressed some concerns about the Cadbury transaction.
Frankly, I think it’s time to clear the air on this. Warren and I have a great relationship, and of course, I respect his opinion. But I run the company for the benefit of all investors. And I strongly believe that the Cadbury acquisition was the right decision for Kraft Foods.
Why? Because it dramatically transformed our portfolio to one that’s skewed to faster growing categories, geographies and distribution channels.
We have a distinctive and unique platform for sustainable growth. In terms of category mix, snacks, which are growing around the world, now comprise more than half of our portfolio. Geographically, more than half of our revenues are now generated outside of North America, and almost 60% outside the United States. In addition, our footprint in higher-growth developing markets is now 26% of our total revenues, twice what it was just three years ago. And while we continue to build our strength in modern grocery channels, we’ve doubled our presence in higher-growth, higher-margin instant consumption channels to 20% of net revenues.
Today, we’re a true global powerhouse with an unrivaled portfolio of snacks and non-snacks brands that no other company can match.
As a result, I’m increasingly confident that our unique combination of assets will enable us to deliver sustainable top-tier performance on both the top and bottom lines and attractive returns to our shareholders.
The merger has been viewed largely successful and Kraft's operating results since then has been impressive. Stock prices of Kraft have been trended higher since the merger. I wonder whether Buffett will further reduce his holdings in Kraft after the strong results coming in since the merger. We will know that in about two weeks when he update his latest holding information.
Watch the complete interview here.
Also, check out the other stocks in Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio here.
