American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was Buffett’s third largest holding at the end of the fourth quarter, comprising 12.90% of his portfolio’s value. The stake of 151.61 million shares, valued at $14.11 billion also remained unchanged. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management is another significant holder of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). As of the latest filing the fund owns about 11.26 million shares valued at $1.05 billion. The position represents 2.16% of Fisher’s equity portfolio, making it his fifth largest position.
Despite (or perhaps because of) a 13.75% dip in International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price since the end of September last year, Buffett increased his stake in the company by 6.49 million shares during the fourth quarter, a 9% increase. Currently, he owns 76.97 million shares valued at $12.35 billion. The contribution of the stake in Buffett’s portfolio stands at 11.29%.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has been affected by years of sliding revenues and earnings, which it has been compensating for in terms of stock price by executing share repurchases and paying out dividends to shareholders. However, according to another disappointing earnings release in the fourth quarter, the company is cutting back on repurchases while the forward guidance provided also looked grim. Buffett is known to pick up companies when they are selling at a discount, and for him this seemed like the moment to further increase his stake.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) also has the Oracle of Omaha’s vote of confidence as it boasts a stake of 60.39 million shares comprising 4.75% of Buffett’s portfolio value. The position itself had a market value of $5.19 billion. Although up about 15% over the last twelve months, shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are down about 1.7% year-to-date. The company released its fourth quarter earnings report recently, which showed an EPS of $1.61, beating estimates by $0.07. The company meagerly increased its yearly dividends by 2% against the historical annual growth figure of nearly 14%, owing to higher capital expenditure needs in the future. The revised annual dividend stands at $1.96. These funds will be mostly directed towards new stores and e-commerce. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. also recently increased the wage of over half of its workforce to $9 per hour, a 24% increase above the federal minimum wage of $7.25. That minimum pay rate rises again, to $10.00 per hour, in February, 2016.
Boykin Curry’s Eagle management lacked this same confidence or patience in the massive chain of retail stores, as it reduced its position in Wal-Mart by just under 6.0 million shares during the last quarter. The stake, which now comprises 5.1 million shares now represents only 1.65% of the fund’s portfolio value, down from 3.28% in the third quarter.
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