New
York, NY, Aug 15— Berkshire Hathaway bought a stake in diversified manufacturer
Honeywell International in the second quarter, and sold shares in banking
companies Citigroup, SunTrust Banks, U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co.
Berkshire bought 2.25 million Honeywell shares, worth about $83 million, in the
second quarter, according to Berkshire's latest filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Berkshire now owns about 0.3% of Honeywell, whose $43
billion takeover by General Electric Co. was blocked by European regulators in
July.
The new stake is only a small part of the $29 billion or so that Berkshire holds
in U.S. stocks. Those holdings are largely controlled by Buffett, known as the
Sage of Omaha for his astute investing. Buffett, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska,
is the world's second richest man behind Microsoft's Bill Gates, with a personal
fortune of about $32 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Apart from Honeywell, Berkshire bought no other significant chunks of shares in
the quarter. That’s in line with Buffett's often stated preference for buying
whole companies rather than stakes. Berkshire has bought eight other companies
in the past year or so, and has three more deals awaiting completion.
Berkshire sold shares in several companies in the quarter, mostly reducing
stakes in U.S. banks. It also sold 220,000 shares in defense contractor General
Dynamics Corp., worth about $18 million.
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2001 Floor Focus Inc
