In the worst quarter for U.S. stocks since 2011, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was a big buyer.
In fact, Berkshire increased the number of shares it held in its portfolio by 25%.
One of Buffett’s major buys: 59 million shares of AT&T.
The value of Berkshire’s holdings increased 19% to $127 billion, as many of those shares declined. Overall the S&P 500 lost about 7% of its value during the quarter.
Berkshire revealed in a regulatory filing Monday that it had also bought additional stock of several companies it already owns, including General Motors, increasing its stake by 22% to 50 million shares, Twenty-First Century Fox by 44% to nearly 9 million shares, and IBM by 2%. Berkshire disclosed last month that it lost $2 billion on its IBM investment.
Shares of AT&T, GM, Fox and IBM were all were up more than the broader market in morning trading Monday.
Buffett did sell some stocks, most notably trimming his stake in Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart. Goldman stock was lower Monday, while Wal-Mart shares gained.