13F Watch: Berkshire Buys Chicago Bridge & Iron; Sells Archer Daniels and General Dynamics

Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway BRKBRK released its required 13F filing on Wednesday after the closing bell. The value of the firm's equity portfolio rose nearly 13 percent in the first-quarter of 2013 to just over $85 billion. Overall, it was a fairly quiet quarter for Berkshire, which only added two new long equity positions and sold out of only two stocks. The firm opened new stakes in Liberty Media LMCA and Chicago Bridge & Iron CBI while selling its positions in General Dynamics GD and Archer Daniels Midland Company ADM. Berkshire purchased roughly 5.6 million shares of Liberty Media valued at around $628 million and 6.5 million Chicago Bridge & Iron shares valued at just north of $400 million. The sales of General Dynamics and Archer Daniels Midland represented well under 1 percent of Berkshire's portfolio. Berkshire trimmed its stakes in Mondelez International MDLZ, Kraft Food Group KRFT, and Bank of New York Mellon BK. The Mondelez position was cut by 45 percent while the changes to the holding company's stakes in Kraft and Bank of New York Mellon were relatively minor. Berkshire also added to its holdings of nine other stocks. Among the notable names where the firm increased its ownership were Wells Fargo WFC, DaVita DVA, US Bancorp USB, Wal-Mart WMT, DirecTV DTV, and National Oilwell Varco NOV.