Buffett’s Berkshire buys gold miner Barrick, beats Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, dumps Goldman stake amid coronavirus

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.A,
-0.58%
BRK.B,
-0.48%
redeemed more than a quarter of its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. WFC,
+ 1.11%
and about 61% of its position in JPMorgan Chase JPM,
+ 0.03%,
while taking on a new position at Barrick Gold Corp. GOLD,
-0.55%,
according to 13F applications to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended June 30, which were released Friday afternoon. Berkshire’s movements appeared to reflect a broad enlightenment of the conglomerates’ exposure to banks with large capitalization during the worst public health crisis in generations. Berkshire sold 85.6 million shares of Wells Fargo, representing about 26% of its stake and putting its ownership at approximately 3% from 5.3%. The insurance conglomerate also owns 35.5 million shares of JPMorgan, 61% of its position, which now represents 1% of Berkshire’s total portfolio of 3% over the previous period. Meanwhile, the investment firm bought nearly 21 million shares of Barrick Gold worth $ 563 million, representing 0.3% of Berkshire’s holding. Berkshire also reduced its stake in PNC Financial Services PNC,
+ 0.66%,
Sold 3.85 million shares to cut its position to 0.3% from 0.5%. The insurance conglomerate voiced its interest in the Kroger Co. grocery chain. KR,
+ 2.31%
with 15%, buying 3 million shares. The report also revealed that Buffett’s company dumped its entire bet in the Goldman Sachs GS,
-0.20%,
Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY,
+ 0.27%,
and also complete an exodus of airlines, including American Airlines Group Inc. AAL,
+ 0.22%,
Delta Air Lines DAL,
+ 0.87%
United Airlines UAL,
+ 1.03%
and Southwest Airlines Co. LUV,
+ 0.54%.
Berkshire changed its holdings in Apple Inc. AAPL,
-0.08%,
where the company owns 245,156 million shares. Large investors should disclose long-term equity positions held at the end of a quarter 45 days later in a 13F entry with the SEC, which means that such announcements are only a snapshot of an investor attitude at any given point. Berkshire A and B shares have fallen by about 0.6% and 0.5% after closing Friday. Meanwhile, shares of Wells Fargo were up 0.8% after closing trading after hours on Friday, JPMorgan shares were up 0.1% lower, while Barrick’s share was up 3.9% after closing down Friday’s clock. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
+ 0.12%
posted a meager profit on the day, while the S&P 500 index SPX,
-0.01%
and technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP,
-0.21%
closed in negative ground area. However, all three benchmarks curved weekly gains.