Buffett and Other Institutional Investors' Moves: Tech Stocks Are Out, Consumer Stocks Are In

Insights - In the second quarter, several institutional investors reduced their positions in the seven major tech stocks and reallocated capital into sectors such as mining, energy, healthcare, and consumer goods.

Berkshire Hathaway's Q2 report on August 3 disclosed that the firm significantly reduced its Apple holdings, capturing global market attention. Investors had been eagerly awaiting this 13F filing to see Buffett's latest strategic moves.

The filing released on Thursday indicates that Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its holdings in a total of 10 securities during Q2, with the most substantial reduction in Apple, cutting its position from 789 million shares to 400 million shares. Additionally, Berkshire completely exited its positions in the cloud computing company Snowflake and media conglomerate Paramount Global during the reporting period.

On the acquisition front, Buffett continued to increase his stake in Occidental Petroleum during Q2. Berkshire also initiated new positions in two companies: Ulta Beauty, the largest beauty retailer in the U.S., and aerospace and electronics company HEICO.

Bridgewater Associates mirrored Buffett's actions by significantly reducing its Apple holdings in Q2, cutting its stake by over 70% from 1.84 million shares to 469,000 shares, marking the largest reduction in its portfolio. Concurrently, Bridgewater substantially increased its stakes in Amazon and Microsoft, while slightly reducing its position in AI chip leader NVIDIA.

Furthermore, Bridgewater initiated new positions in several energy stocks, including Constellation Energy, Chevron, and Uranium Energy Corporation.

Billionaire George Soros's family office, Soros Fund Management, ventured into the crypto sector in Q2, increasing its holdings in several mining-related companies.

Conversely, Soros reduced or sold off most of its positions in the seven major tech stocks. The report shows that the fund no longer holds shares in NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft. Compared to the first quarter, it also reduced its holdings in Amazon, Meta, and Netflix.

Here are the changes in holdings among various institutional investors.