Warren Buffett was criticized for not buying stocks at a discount and closing lucrative deals when the pandemic brought the stock market crashing down in March 2020.
However, its financial arm, Berkshire Hathaway, spent and committed a total of $22 billion in the first quarter of this year, marking one of its most aggressive buying periods since the pandemic so far.
Business Insider reported on Monday, on the occasion of Berkshire Hathaway’s next shareholder meeting at the end of the month, that the fund invested around $7 billion in Occidental Petroleum during the 13 business days between February 28 and March 16. .
On March 21, it disclosed a deal to acquire insurer Alleghany for $11.6 billion in cash. He also reported an 11.4% stake in HP on April 6, after spending more than $3 billion building that position last quarter.
Between Occidental and HP, Berkshire Hathaway amassed more than $10 billion in stock last quarter. For comparison, it spent a total of $8.4 billion on stocks over the course of 2021 and less than $8 billion in three of the four quarters of 2020.
According to Business Insider, investors will have to wait until Berkshire’s first-quarter earnings and 13-F portfolio update in May to find out how much it spent on stocks and what names it added to its portfolio in the first quarter. Still, it’s safe to say that the conglomerate significantly increased its share purchases in the period.
Berkshire Hathaway’s deployment and commitment of $22 billion in the quarter rivals its recent annual share buyback spending.
Berkshire spent a record $25 billion on share buybacks in 2020, then set a new record in 2021, when it topped $27 billion.