Barron’s sees Exxon shares rising after XTO deal
NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) – The expected closing of
Exxon Mobil Corp’s purchase of XTO Energy Inc
later this month could end a year-long slump for Exxon shares,
Barron’s reported on Sunday. Continue Reading »
NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. will likely generate more than 3 percent organic growth in the coming year, said an analyst on Tuesday as he upgraded the company’s stock. Barclays Capital analyst Paul Cheng also predicted that the world’s largest publicly traded oil company will grow at an average rate of 2.6 percent between 2009 and 2013. Cheng advised investors to snap up the attractively priced stock, which has significantly underperformed in 2009. “We believe the risk/reward ratio is attractive for investors to at least temporarily increase the portfolio weighing on the big majors over the next several months,” Cheng said in a note to clients. Cheng upgraded his rating for Exxon’s stock to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” and raised his price target to $92 from $90. Shares of Exxon climbed 42 cents to $74.85 in morning trading. Read the original here: Exxon upgraded to ‘Overweight’ on growth estimate (AP)
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N )( BRKb.N ) on Monday revealed new investments in Nestle AG ( NESN.VX ) ( NSRGY.PK ) and Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ) and that it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ). In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing reporting U.S.-listed equity holdings as of September 30, Berkshire said it held 3.4 million American depositary receipts of Nestle, the world’s largest foodmaker, worth $144.7 million. It also reported owning 1.28 million shares of Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest oil company, valued at $87.6 million. Berkshire also boosted its stake in Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, 90 percent from three months earlier, to 37.8 million shares worth $1.86 billion from 19.9 million shares. While the companies are all household names, their shares have lagged the broader U.S. stock market since the market bottomed in March. Buffett favors undervalued stocks, and regularly buys even when economic conditions are weak. “The general market has rocketed higher, but it may be that these businesses haven’t participated as well,” said Justin Fuller, an analyst at Midway Capital Research & Management in Chicago and author of the Buffettologist.com blog. Berkshire also reported new investments of $96.3 million in trash hauler Republic Services Inc ( RSG.N ), and $1.35 million in insurer Travelers Cos ( TRV.N ). Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire did not immediately return a request for comment. Buffett, the world’s second-richest person, does not publicly discuss what he is buying and selling, or ordinarily explain purchases and sales revealed in quarterly SEC filings. Monday’s SEC filing includes investments made by Berkshire subsidiaries, including a portfolio at the car insurer Geico Corp overseen by Lou Simpson. Buffett has said investors should not assume all the reported investment decisions are his. A separate SEC filing revealed that Berkshire had begun amassing its Exxon stake by the second quarter. The SEC occasionally lets Buffett delay disclosing investment activity so investors cannot copy him while he is buying and selling. Soros Asset Management, overseen by billionaire George Soros, in a separate SEC filing revealed a stake in Berkshire itself and increased stakes in many blue-chip companies. WHITHER KRAFT Fuller said the Nestle stake appears surprising given Berkshire’s reported $3.63 billion stake in Kraft Foods Inc ( KFT.N ), which last week launched a hostile bid for Britain’s Cadbury Plc ( CBRY.L ). Yet he said Nestle could help Berkshire “diversify away from Kraft. It is the classic Berkshire-type business in that it is easy to understand, and which has many good brands that people like to buy.” Continued… Continue reading here: Berkshire buys Nestle, Exxon; ups Wal-Mart stake
By The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. – Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company bought a nearly US$60-million stake in Exxon Mobil Corp., trimmed holdings in oil rival ConocoPhillips and nearly doubled its stake in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. during the latest quarter. Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. disclosed the changes to its $59.7-billion U.S. stock portfolio in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. During the quarter ended Sept. 30, Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 855,000 shares of Exxon Mobil. Its stake in ConocoPhillips was cut from more than 64 million shares at the end of June to more than 57 million shares, valued at nearly $2.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Wal-Mart, valued at $1.65 billion, stood at 33.6 million shares at the end of September, up from nearly 20 million at the end of June. A separate filing Monday by the Seattle-based Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation showed it raised its stake in Berkshire Hathaway to more than 1.6 million class B shares, worth $3,431 apiece, from 1.25 million. Those shares are to be split 50-to-1 under Berkshire Hathaway’s Nov. 3 deal to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the second-largest railroad in the United States. Berkshire has agreed to pay $26.3 billion in cash and stock for the 77.4 per cent of the company it doesn’t now own, valuing the entire company at $34 billion. Buffett has been a key donor to the Gates Foundation, with plans to give 10 million class B shares in a series of annual gifts. Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.’s co-founder, is a friend and philanthropic ally of Buffett. Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation changed holdings of several other stocks between June 30 and Sept. 30, including: -Increasing its stake in McDonald’s Corp. to 7.4 million shares from 6.9 million; -Boosting its stake in Coca-Cola Co. to 6.9 million shares from 5.7 million; -Raising its ownership of trash hauler Waste Management Inc. to 15.7 million shares from 7.8 million; -Cutting its stake in shoe maker Crocs Inc. to 668,000 shares from three million. Another filing Monday shows financier George Soros’ company, Soros Fund Management LLC, increased his stake in Berkshire Hathaway to 10 class A shares – valued at around $103,000 apiece – from the previous four. Soros also acquired 200 class B shares. Berkshire’s holdings reports are closely followed because of Buffett’s legendary reputation as a savvy investor able to spot stock market bargains and then sell holdings that get overpriced. One holding that disappeared from Hathaway’s portfolio in the latest quarter was industrial equipment maker Eaton Corp. Hathaway had held two million shares of Eaton three months earlier, after selling 1.2 million shares in the previous quarter. The filing does not differentiate between investments Berkshire makes, investments any of its subsidiaries make, or investments Buffett himself makes. The filing also says Berkshire has received permission from the SEC to omit some information to protect its trading strategy, so the document offers an incomplete picture of the company’s investments. Berkshire regularly asks the SEC for the ability not to immediately disclose its holdings when it is making significant changes in an investment. Berkshire says the information could hurt its trading strategy because the market likes to follow what the “Oracle of Omaha’s” company does. In addition to its investments, Berkshire owns dozens of operating companies across a wide range of industries. Follow this link: Buffett’s Berkshire acquires ExxonMobil stake, cuts holdings in ConocoPhillips
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company bought a nearly $60 million stake in Exxon Mobil Corp., and cut its holdings in oil rival ConocoPhillips during the third quarter. {”s” : “bni,brk-b,cop,msft,wmt,xom”,”k” : “c10,l10,p20,t10″,”o” : “”,”j” : “”} Berkshire Hathaway Inc. also significantly increased its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the three months ended Sept. 30. Omaha-based Berkshire disclosed the changes to its $59.7 billion U.S. stock portfolio in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. During the quarter, Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 855,000 shares of Exxon Mobil. Its stake in ConocoPhillips was cut from more than 64 million shares at the end of June to more than 57 million shares, valued at nearly $2.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Wal-Mart, valued at $1.65 billion, stood at 33.6 million shares at the end of September, up from nearly 20 million at the end of June. A separate filing Monday by the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation showed it raised its stake in Berkshire Hathaway to more than 1.6 million Class B shares, worth $3,431 apiece, from 1.25 million. Those shares are to be split 50-to-1 under Berkshire’s Nov. 3 deal to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the nation’s second-largest railroad. Berkshire has agreed to pay $26.3 billion in cash and stock for the 77.4 percent of the company it doesn’t now own, valuing the entire company at $34 billion. Buffett has been a key donor to the Gates Foundation, with plans to give 10 million B shares in a series of annual gifts. Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.’s co-founder, is a friend and philanthropic ally of Buffett. Another filing Monday shows financier George Soros’ company, Soros Fund Management LLC, increased its stake in Berkshire to 10 Class A shares — valued at around $103,000 apiece — from the previous four. Soros also acquired 200 Class B shares. Berkshire’s holdings reports are closely followed because of Buffett’s legendary reputation as a savvy investor able to spot stock market bargains and then sell holdings that get overpriced. The filing does not differentiate between investments Berkshire makes, investments any of its subsidiaries make, or investments Buffett himself makes. In addition to its investments, Berkshire owns dozens of operating companies across a wide range of industries. See the original post: Buffett’s Berkshire acquires ExxonMobil stake (AP)
By Jonathan Stempel {”s” : “bni,brk-a,brk-b,cbry.l,cop,etn,kft”,”k” : “c10,l10,p20,t10″,”o” : “”,”j” : “”} NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A – News ; NYSE: BRK-B – News ) on Monday revealed new investments in Nestle AG (VTX: NESN.VX – News ; Other OTC: NSRGY.PK – News ) and Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM – News ) and that it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT – News ). In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing reporting U.S.-listed equity holdings as of September 30, Berkshire said it held 3.4 million American depositary receipts of Nestle, the world’s largest foodmaker, worth $144.7 million. It also reported owning 1.28 million shares of Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest oil company, valued at $87.6 million. Berkshire also boosted its stake in Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, 90 percent from three months earlier, to 37.8 million shares worth $1.86 billion from 19.9 million shares. While the companies are all household names, their shares have lagged the broader U.S. stock market since the market bottomed in March. Buffett favors undervalued stocks, and regularly buys even when economic conditions are weak. “The general market has rocketed higher, but it may be that these businesses haven’t participated as well,” said Justin Fuller, an analyst at Midway Capital Research & Management in Chicago and author of the Buffettologist.com blog. Berkshire also reported new investments of $96.3 million in trash hauler Republic Services Inc (NYSE: RSG – News ), and $1.35 million in insurer Travelers Cos (NYSE: TRV – News ). Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire did not immediately return a request for comment. Buffett, the world’s second-richest person, does not publicly discuss what he is buying and selling, or ordinarily explain purchases and sales revealed in quarterly SEC filings. Monday’s SEC filing includes investments made by Berkshire subsidiaries, including a portfolio at the car insurer Geico Corp overseen by Lou Simpson. Buffett has said investors should not assume all the reported investment decisions are his. A separate SEC filing revealed that Berkshire had begun amassing its Exxon stake by the second quarter. The SEC occasionally lets Buffett delay disclosing investment activity so investors cannot copy him while he is buying and selling. Soros Asset Management, overseen by billionaire George Soros, in a separate SEC filing revealed a stake in Berkshire itself and increased stakes in many blue-chip companies. WHITHER KRAFT Fuller said the Nestle stake appears surprising given Berkshire’s reported $3.63 billion stake in Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT – News ), which last week launched a hostile bid for Britain’s Cadbury Plc (LSE: CBRY.L – News ). Yet he said Nestle could help Berkshire “diversify away from Kraft. It is the classic Berkshire-type business in that it is easy to understand, and which has many good brands that people like to buy.” He also said the added Wal-Mart stake “makes more sense at a time consumers are more price-conscious,” while the Exxon stake could be “indicative of Berkshire’s large bet in energy. If you believe as Buffett does that more inflation is on the horizon, then it makes sense.” Berkshire this month agreed to buy the 77.4 percent of railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (NYSE: BNI – News ) it did not already own for $26.4 billion. While Berkshire on Sept 30 still owned shares of railroad operators Norfolk Southern Corp (NYSE: NSC – News ) and Union Pacific Corp (NYSE: UNP – News ), Buffett has said he has sold these. The value of Berkshire’s disclosed portfolio of U.S.-listed equities grew 16 percent from the second quarter to $56.55 billion from $48.95 billion. Berkshire bought a net $1.45 billion of equities in the quarter. Berkshire also reported increased stakes in Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC – News ) and lowered stakes in oil company ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP – News ), credit rater Moody’s Corp (NYSE: MCO – News ), NRG Energy Inc (NYSE: NRG – News ), SunTrust Banks Inc (NYSE: STI – News ) and health insurer WellPoint Inc (NYSE: WLP – News ). It also reported no stake in Eaton Corp (NYSE: ETN – News ), after holding 2 million shares of the manufacturer of hydraulics and electrical control systems three months earlier. Buffett has transformed Berkshire since 1965 into a roughly $160 billion conglomerate with close to 80 companies selling such things as candy, car insurance, ice cream and underwear. In Monday trading, Berkshire Class A shares closed up $945 at $103,000, and its Class B shares rose $20.50 to $3,431.50. (Editing by Andre Grenon and Steve Orlofsky) Read the original: Berkshire buys Nestle, Exxon; ups Wal-Mart stake (Reuters)