Berkshire Hathaway is reducing its stake in Taiwan Semi. What else Buffett sold.

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Berkshire Hathaway

reduced his share

Taiwan semiconductor

in the fourth quarter and nearly eliminated what had been a large holding

U.S. Bancorp
,

according to filings late Tuesday.

Berkshire Hathaway (ticker BRK/A, BRK/B) reduced its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) to 8.3 million shares in the fourth quarter from 60 million shares in the third quarter, down 86%. The stake in US Bancorp (USB) fell according to a13-F filing Tuesday.

News of the cut in Taiwan Semiconductor’s stake weighed on shares of the major chipmaker in after-hours trading. The stock is down 3.3% to 94.70 after rising 1.9% to 97.96 during Tuesday’s regular trading session.

The sharp reduction in its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor came just a quarter after Berkshire built the position, which totaled $4.2 billion at the end of the third quarter. Berkshire likely made a profit on the holding as Taiwan Semiconductor gained about 10% in the fourth quarter to end the year at $74. But Berkshire has missed out on big gains so far this quarter.

The cut in Taiwan Semiconductor came as a surprise, as many investors assumed that Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett or his investment lieutenants Todd Combs and Ted Weschler had built a long-term stake in the semiconductor maker.

There were no major new acquisitions from Berkshire in the fourth quarter. That’s unusual for the company, which typically builds a stake in at least one company each quarter.

Berkshire has built many smaller holdings in a $350 billion portfolio in recent years, including

Verizon Communications

(VZ) as well as some financial and drug stocks. This is at odds with Buffett’s often-voiced view that his preferred holding period is perpetual.

However, Berkshire made little to no changes to its largest holdings in the fourth quarter:

Apple
,

Bank of America

(BAK),

rafters
,

Coke

(KO) and

American Express

(AXP). Aside from Chevron, which was largely bought in 2022, Berkshire has done little to nothing over the past two years with its largest holdings.

The longtime US Bancorp holding was at 143 million shares at the end of 2021 and was down 95% through the end of 2022.

Berkshire has been an active seller of bank stocks in recent years and has eliminated holdings in stocks

JPMorgan Chase

(JPM),

Goldman Sachs Group

(GS) and

Wells Fargo

(WFC). The US Bancorp and

Bank of New York

The stakes have fallen sharply. Berkshire has more than $10 billion on the table since the sale as stocks have rallied. Buffett appears to want to focus Berkshire’s banking investments in Bank of America, in which it owns about a billion shares worth roughly $36 billion.

There were some other changes in the Berkshire portfolio reported in the 13-F report. The company’s stake in Chevron (CVX) fell about two million shares to 163 million shares in the fourth quarter.

Berkshire bought two million shares of

Paramount Global

(PARA) and held 93.6 million shares at year-end.

Berkshire’s largest holding, Apple (AAPL), rose about 300,000 shares to 895.1 million shares, likely reflecting the inclusion of Apple stock held by Alleghany, the insurer Berkshire bought in the fourth quarter.

It appears that Berkshire sold nearly all of the shares in Alleghany’s $2 billion portfolio after the transaction closed in October.

Earlier Tuesday, Berkshire announced in separate 13-G filings that it had reduced its holdings in Bank of New York (BK) and

Activision Blizzard

(ATVI) in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York’s stake fell to 25 million shares from 62.2 million shares, and Activision’s stake fell 7.3 million shares to 52.7 million shares.

13-F filing occurs quarterly and 13-G filing occurs annually for interests in which Berkshire owns 5% or more. Berkshire’s 13-G filings are broader than the 13-F filings because they include holdings from New England Asset Management, an investment manager owned by the Berkshire General Re unit.

For example, Berkshire’s total ownership interest in Apple is 915.6 million shares, reflecting about 20 million shares held by New England Asset Management.

Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com