Warren Buffett Portfolio Tracker: The Definitive Guide for Smart Investors
A warren buffett portfolio tracker gives you the exact list of stocks Berkshire Hathaway owns, updated quarterly via SEC 13F filings, along with the position sizes and changes made since the previous filing. Understanding the portfolio is straightforward. Applying the logic behind it to your own stock selection is the harder, more valuable task. This guide covers both.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) trades at a P/E near 9.8 and a price-to-book near 1.5 as of April 2026. The conglomerate holds roughly 50 public equity positions, with the top five representing approximately 75% of the total portfolio value. That concentration is deliberate. Buffett has said repeatedly that diversification is protection against ignorance, and that if you know what you are doing, you do not need to own 50 stocks.
Key Takeaways
- Berkshire's equity portfolio is publicly reported every quarter via SEC 13F filings; the filings are 45 days delayed, meaning you always see last quarter's positions, not today's.
- As of the most recent filings, Apple (AAPL) represents the largest single position in Berkshire's portfolio at roughly 40% of reported equity holdings, despite significant trimming since 2023.
- The top five holdings (AAPL, Bank of America, American Express, Coca-Cola, Chevron) account for approximately 75% of the equity portfolio by value.
- Buffett has held Coca-Cola (KO) since 1988. At an average cost basis well below current prices, Berkshire now earns a yield-on-cost of over 50% on its KO investment.
- Berkshire itself does not pay a dividend. Buffett prefers to allocate retained earnings to buybacks and acquisitions rather than distribute cash.
- The ValueMarkers portfolio tracker lets you mirror any subset of Berkshire's holdings in your own account and track them alongside your existing positions.
- Warren Buffett started investing at age 11 in 1941. Berkshire's record of compounding book value at approximately 19% annualized over six decades is the best long-term track record in modern investing.
What a Warren Buffett Portfolio Tracker Actually Shows You
A tracker pulling from SEC 13F filings shows you three things: the securities Berkshire holds at a given quarter-end, the number of shares held, and the reported market value. What it does not show you is the cost basis, the rationale for each position, or the activity that occurred within the quarter (buys and sells are only reported at quarter-end, not intraday or weekly).
The delay matters. By the time you can see a Buffett purchase, 45 to 75 days have passed. AAPL was above $220 when the most recent quarter closed. By the time the 13F was filed, the market had moved substantially. Tracking the portfolio is useful for learning what passes Buffett's filter. It is not useful for mimicking his trades in real time.
The Current Berkshire Hathaway Equity Portfolio
The 13F covers only publicly traded U.S. equities. It does not capture Berkshire's wholly-owned subsidiaries (GEICO, Burlington Northern, BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Dairy Queen, and others), which represent a massive portion of the conglomerate's intrinsic value.
| Stock | Ticker | Approximate Portfolio Weight | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | AAPL | ~40% | Technology |
| Bank of America | BAC | ~12% | Financials |
| American Express | AXP | ~10% | Financials |
| Coca-Cola | KO | ~8% | Consumer Staples |
| Chevron | CVX | ~5% | Energy |
| Occidental Petroleum | OXY | ~4% | Energy |
| Kraft Heinz | KHC | ~3% | Consumer Staples |
| Moody's | MCO | ~3% | Financials |
| DaVita | DVA | ~2% | Healthcare |
| Other positions | Various | ~13% | Mixed |
The Apple position is the most discussed. Berkshire began buying AAPL in 2016, well after most value investors had already passed on it at lower prices, because Buffett reconsidered the company's consumer loyalty and pricing power as qualitative moat characteristics that traditional P/E analysis had underpriced. AAPL currently carries a P/E near 28.3 and an ROIC of approximately 45.1%, one of the highest in any large-cap company globally.
How Buffett Evaluates Stocks: The Framework Behind the Portfolio
Buffett's public writing, particularly his annual Berkshire letters, describes a consistent framework that maps closely to what we track in the ValueMarkers VMCI Score. The five pillars: Value (35%), Quality (30%), Integrity (15%), Growth (12%), and Risk (8%).
Quality first. Buffett prioritizes businesses earning high returns on equity and invested capital without requiring heavy ongoing capital expenditure. Microsoft (MSFT) earns an ROIC of approximately 35.2%. AAPL earns approximately 45.1%. Both reflect the kind of capital-light compounding Buffett described when he said he prefers to buy a wonderful business at a fair price over a fair business at a wonderful price.
Moat as the filter. Before a stock enters Buffett's consideration, it must have a durable competitive advantage: brand loyalty (KO), switching costs (AmEx), network effects, or low-cost production. This is not a quantitative metric but it screens out the majority of the stock market immediately.
Owner earnings over GAAP. Buffett uses "owner earnings," which he defines as net income plus depreciation and amortization minus average annual capital expenditures needed to maintain the business. This strips out the accounting noise and gets to the cash a business genuinely generates for its owners.
Debt conservatism. Berkshire's wholly-owned subsidiaries run lean balance sheets. Buffett has been vocal about avoiding businesses that require continuous debt refinancing to survive. The debt-to-equity metric we track helps identify this structural fragility before it becomes a crisis.
Warren Buffett's Holding Period and What It Teaches You
Buffett has described his preferred holding period as "forever." His Coca-Cola position dates to 1988. American Express to the early 1990s. These are not abstract statements about patience. They reflect a specific tax and compounding logic: every time you sell a position and buy a new one, you pay tax on the gain and reset your cost basis. If you hold a compounder for 30 years inside a taxable account, you defer that tax for three decades, which is mathematically equivalent to receiving an interest-free loan from the government on your gains.
This is why chasing quarterly portfolio changes by copying 13F filings is structurally flawed. Buffett's highest-returning positions are the ones he bought decades ago and has never sold. By the time you see a new position appear in a 13F, the most transformative part of its compounding journey may be 20 years out, not 6 months.
How Many Shares Warren Buffett Owns of Coca-Cola
Berkshire Hathaway holds approximately 400 million shares of Coca-Cola (KO). At KO's current price near $65 and a dividend yield of approximately 3.0%, Berkshire receives roughly $780 million per year in KO dividends alone. The original cost basis is estimated near $1.3 billion total for those 400 million shares, meaning Buffett's yield-on-cost on KO is now well above 50%.
This is the compounding arithmetic that makes long-term holding in quality dividend growers so powerful. At the time of purchase in 1988 and 1989, KO yielded about 3.5% on Buffett's cost. The dividend has grown every year since. What was a 3.5% yield on cost in 1989 is now a 50%+ yield on cost 36 years later. You cannot replicate that by buying KO today, but you can start your own version of it by buying quality dividend growers now and holding them for decades.
How to Build Your Own Portfolio Inspired by Buffett's Principles
You do not need to replicate Berkshire's holdings to apply Buffett's principles. You need to apply his filter to whatever stocks you are evaluating. The filter has five observable components.
First: does the business earn an ROIC consistently above its cost of capital? If ROIC is 15% and the cost of capital is 8%, the business creates value. If ROIC is 6% and cost of capital is 8%, the business destroys value no matter how fast it grows.
Second: is management deploying retained earnings intelligently? Look at share count trends (buybacks or dilution), dividend growth history, and acquisition track records.
Third: is the balance sheet conservative? Debt-to-equity below 1.0 for most non-financial businesses is a reasonable starting screen. High leverage makes durable businesses fragile during cyclical downturns.
Fourth: is the price reasonable relative to owner earnings? Buffett uses a rough estimate: if owner earnings yield (inverse of owner earnings P/E) is substantially above the 10-year Treasury yield, the stock may be attractively priced.
Fifth: do you understand the business well enough to hold through a 50% drawdown? If not, do not buy it regardless of what the 13F shows.
Tracking Max Drawdown and Shareholder Yield Alongside Holdings
The max drawdown figure shows the worst peak-to-trough decline a stock has experienced over a given trailing period. For portfolio construction, it tells you the emotional and financial durability you are signing up for. AAPL fell over 30% in 2022 despite strong fundamentals. Investors who understood the business held through it and recovered. Investors who bought because a tracker showed Berkshire held it, without understanding the business, often sold at the worst moment.
Shareholder yield combines the dividend yield with net buyback yield. A company returning 3% in dividends and buying back 2% of shares annually delivers 5% total shareholder yield, which beats many high-yield stocks on a total-return basis with significantly less payout risk. We track both metrics in the ValueMarkers screener.
How to Start Building a Strong Stock Portfolio
Building a strong portfolio does not require owning 50 stocks. The research consistently shows that most diversification benefits are captured by 15 to 20 uncorrelated positions. Beyond 20, you are adding complexity and decision overhead without meaningfully reducing risk.
A practical sequence: start with 5 to 8 high-quality businesses you understand. Add one or two positions per quarter as you develop conviction in new names. Remove positions only when the thesis has changed, not when the price has moved against you. Track your total return, drawdown, and dividend income quarterly against a simple benchmark.
Further reading: SEC EDGAR · FRED Economic Data
Why berkshire hathaway portfolio Matters
This section anchors the discussion on berkshire hathaway portfolio. The detailed treatment, formula, and worked examples appear in the body of this article above. The points below summarize the most important takeaways for value investors who want to apply berkshire hathaway portfolio in real portfolio decisions. ValueMarkers exposes the underlying data on every covered ticker via the screener and stock profile pages, so the concepts in this article translate directly into actionable filters.
Key inputs for berkshire hathaway portfolio
See the main discussion of berkshire hathaway portfolio in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using berkshire hathaway portfolio alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Sector benchmarks for berkshire hathaway portfolio
See the main discussion of berkshire hathaway portfolio in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using berkshire hathaway portfolio alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Related ValueMarkers Resources
- Maximum Drawdown 1Y (Max Drawdown) — Maximum Drawdown 1Y expresses the financial stress or solvency profile of the business
- Debt To Equity — Glossary entry for Debt To Equity
- Shareholder Yield — Shareholder Yield captures how cheaply a stock trades relative to its fundamentals
- Stock Portfolio Tracker — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Best Portfolio Analysis App — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Best Utility Stocks — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Blue Chip Stocks — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Bull And Bear Market — related ValueMarkers analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
when did warren buffett start investing
Warren Buffett purchased his first stock at age 11 in 1941, buying six shares of Cities Service preferred stock at $38 each. He began managing outside capital formally in 1956 when he launched Buffett Partnership Ltd. in Omaha with $105,100 from family and friends. Over the next 13 years, the partnership compounded at roughly 31% per year before he dissolved it and focused entirely on Berkshire Hathaway.
how to write a portfolio analysis report
A portfolio analysis report should cover: total return vs. benchmark, individual position returns, portfolio yield and dividend income, sector and geographic diversification, maximum drawdown over the period, and a forward-looking assessment of each holding's thesis. For each position, document the original investment rationale and whether the facts that justified buying it are still in place. A one-page quarterly summary per position is more useful than a 30-page annual document nobody reads.
how many shares warren buffett own of coca cola
Berkshire Hathaway owns approximately 400 million shares of Coca-Cola (KO). At KO's current share price near $65 and yield near 3.0%, this position generates roughly $780 million in annual dividend income for Berkshire. Buffett acquired the position primarily between 1988 and 1989 at an average cost estimated near $3.25 per share (adjusted for splits), making the current yield-on-cost well above 50%.
how to start building a stock portfolio
Start by defining your goal: growth, income, or both. Open a brokerage account that allows fractional shares. Select 5 to 8 initial positions across different sectors where you genuinely understand the business model. Automate monthly contributions and reinvest dividends. Review each position quarterly against its original thesis, not against its price movement. Use the ValueMarkers screener to filter for quality before price when adding new names.
how to build a strong stock portfolio
A strong portfolio combines quality businesses (high ROIC, low debt, consistent earnings growth) with appropriate position sizing (no single stock above 8-10%), sector diversification (at least 4 sectors), and a long time horizon. Avoid the temptation to trade frequently. The tax friction and emotional decision-making triggered by frequent trading destroys returns for most individual investors. Strong portfolios are built with high standards for entry and very few exits.
how to build a stock market portfolio
Building a stock market portfolio begins with an asset allocation decision: how much in equities, bonds, and cash. Within equities, divide between domestic and international, large and small cap, growth and value. For a value-focused portfolio, screen on P/E below sector median, ROIC above cost of capital, debt-to-equity below 1.0, and positive free cash flow. The ValueMarkers screener applies 120+ indicators across 73 global exchanges to surface stocks that meet these criteria systematically.
Use the ValueMarkers portfolio tracker to load the Berkshire holdings you want to follow, layer in your own positions, and see your blended fundamentals alongside Buffett's disclosed portfolio in a single view.
Written by Javier Sanz, Founder of ValueMarkers. Last updated April 2026.
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