Berkshire Hathaway stopped buying Occidental Petroleum stock — and more takeaways

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Berkshire Hathaway

The company reduced its holdings in Bank of New York and Activision Blizzard and increased its holding in Louisiana-Pacific in the fourth quarter, according to filings released Tuesday.

But what Warren Buffett didn’t do is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the company’s 13-G.

Yes, Berkshire Hathaway (Ticker: BRK/A, BRK/B) has reduced its holding

Bank of New York

(

BK

) from 62.2 million shares in the third quarter to 25 million shares in the fourth quarter. Berkshire is reducing its stake in

Activision Blizzard

(

ATVI

) by 7.3 million shares to 52.7 million shares. The share of

Louisiana Pacific

(

LPX

) rose from 5.8 million to 7 million shares.

The change in these holdings has been reported in 13-G filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 13-G is an annual filing for passive holdings greater than 5%.

But sometimes a look at the filing can give a misleading picture of what Buffett has been doing. Berkshire’s participation

Apple

(

AAPL

), its largest holding, rose slightly to 915.6 million shares, but that wasn’t because the company bought more shares. Instead, the rise of about 300,000 shares likely reflects the inclusion of Apple stock held by Alleghany, the insurer that Berkshire bought in October.

Namely, the 13-G shows 278.2 million shares Western PetroleumThat number includes roughly 83.9 million warrants to purchase the shares that Berkshire has held for almost four years, and that Berkshire still owns 194.3 million shares, a 21% stake in the oil company, and no more. These warrants are exercisable at approximately $60 per share. Warrants are long-term call options that allow the holder to purchase stock at a predetermined price. Occidental closed at $66.36, up 2.5%, meaning the warrants are in the money.

It gets even more complicated. Berkshire’s 13-F was filed after Tuesday’s close and includes all of its U.S. stock holdings, not just those with stakes of 5% or more. The 13-F is less comprehensive than the 13-G because it excludes stocks held by New England Asset Management, which is part of Berkshire’s General Re insurance division. New England Asset Management files a separate 13-F report, but its holdings are included in Berkshire’s 13-G report.

Berkshire, for example, owned 894.8 million shares of Apple at the end of the third quarter, according to its 13-F report. New England held 20.5 million shares.

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