Berkshire Hathaway Boosts J&J, Sanofi Positions; Builds Stakes in Three Railroads

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway nearly doubled its position in Johnson & Johnson and boosted its holdings of Sanofi-Aventis ADRs by 70% in Q1, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday. The company's quarterly holdings report filed with the SEC also shows it sold over two-thirds of its stake in H&R Block and half its stake in Ameriprise Financial. Berkshire purchased 24.1 million shares of J&J, bringing its holding to 48.7 million shares, and raised its stake in Sanofi to 828,500 shares. The filing also indicated the company is holding 979,700 shares of U.S. health insurer Wellpoint. Berkshire's position in H&R Block was reduced to 1.25 million shares from 4.11 million and in Ameriprise to 4.28 million from 8.27 million. Buffett has also upped Berkshire's position in Wells Fargo & Co. by 14% to 232.2 million shares. Additional filings indicate Berkshire has been establishing positions in three of the four largest U.S. railroads since Q3 2006.

Sources: SEC 13F-HR Filing, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Reuters
Commentary: Dow Components Furthest Above, Below Their 50-DMAs • Goldman Bullish On Johnson & Johnson Following Earnings • Vanguard Health Care Fund's Edward Owens: Buys, Sells, Portfolio
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP), H&R Block, Inc. (HRB), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI). ETFs: SPDR DJ Wilshire Large Cap Growth (ELG), PowerShares FTSE RAFI Financials (PRFF), iShares Dow Jones US Pharmaceuticals (IHE), iShares Dow Jones US Broker-Dealers (IAI), KBW Bank ETF (KBE), iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average (IYT)

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