Warren Buffett once stated that his preferred holding duration is indefinite.
However, when the price is good, he isn’t opposed to taking gains off the table.
Buffett’s holding firm Berkshire Hathaway sold roughly $2 billion more in equities than it bought in the most recent quarter, marking the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of net selling.
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile has grown to $149.2 billion.
However, no one is completely correct all of the time. Some of the stocks that Berkshire just sold may offer a chance for typical investors looking for high-quality companies.
One (or more) of these names may be worth investing some of your spare cash in, especially as we approach the new year.
Drugmakers
When Merck’s antiviral COVID-19 pill was approved by the FDA, it could be taken at home by people who have the virus. But Berkshire didn’t get to enjoy the good news because it wasn’t there to hear it.
In the third quarter, Buffett sold 9.16 million shares of the multinational pharmaceutical company, ending his entire stake in the company.
But the sale shouldn’t come as a complete surprise to everyone. Berkshire already sold a lot of shares of Merck in Q1 and Q2.
It also sold 6.13 million shares of AbbVie and 4.25 million shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter of this year.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a new reason for investors to look at big pharmaceutical companies. That doesn’t mean every stock in the group has done well.
AbbVie is up about 30% this year, Merck is about the same, and Bristol-Myers is up a little. As of 2021, the S&P 500 is up more than 29%.
But what is it that makes these drugmakers stand out from the rest of the pack? Dividends.
Each of the companies above has a dividend yield above 3.4 percent, which is much higher than the S&P 500’s 1.2 percent.
Financials
Over the last year, financial stocks have been on a strong streak of gains. There are some chips that Buffett is taking home.
In the third quarter, Berkshire sold 276,108 shares of Mastercard, which cut its stake in the credit card company by about 6%. It also cut its share in Visa by 4%.
Another thing that Buffett did was sell 2.47 million shares of U.S. Bancorp, which is the fifth-largest bank in the United States, to other people. But Berkshire only lost 2% of its stake in the company.
Buffett isn’t exactly being a bear on the financial sector.
Berkshire still owns more than one billion shares of Bank of America, which has a value of about $45 billion right now. About 151.6 million shares of American Express still belong to Berkshire, which still owns a lot.
At the end of the third quarter, Berkshire owned Bank of America and American Express.
These well-known financial companies pay out dividends every three months, which can be great for people who want to make money without having to work. Financials, on the other hand, do well when interest rates rise, which makes them a good time to invest.
These days, you can build a blue-chip stock portfolio with just a few digital nickels and dimes.
Steady income beyond stocks
These dividend-paying stocks may not be your favourite, but for people who aren’t willing to take risks, making money every month should be their top priority.
The stock market isn’t the only place you can do this. You don’t have to only do it there.
Make sure you look at some less-known assets if you want to keep your money safe from stock market changes.
In the past, only people with a lot of money could invest in things like exotic cars, multifamily apartment buildings, and even litigation finance.
But thanks to new platforms, these kinds of opportunities are also available to people who don’t have a lot of money.
This article is only for information and should not be taken as advice. It does not come with any kind of guarantee.
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