Bill Gates Foundation Traded in 2 Companies in 2nd Quarter

GuruFocus.com

Sun, Aug 28, 2016, 11:03 PM

- By David Goodloe

Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio)' Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reduced three positions and added to two in the second quarter.

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The foundation sold more than 7% of its stake in Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)'s and Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio)'s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B), the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate. The foundation sold 5 million shares for an average price of $142.94 per share. The transaction had a -4.13% impact on the portfolio.

The remaining stake of 64,381,548 shares is 2.61% of Berkshire Hathaway's outstanding Class B shares and 55.42% of the foundation's total assets. Gates' foundation is Berkshire's leading Class B shareholder among the gurus.

Berkshire Hathaway has a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.3, a forward P/E of 14.4, a price-book (P/B) ratio of 1.4 and a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.7. GuruFocus gives Berkshire a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10 with return on equity (ROE) of 10.03% that is higher than 60% of the companies in the Global Insurance - Diversified industry and return on assets (ROA) of 4.52% that is higher than 78% of the companies in that industry.

Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares sold for $147.91 at market close Friday. The DCF Calculator gives Berkshire Hathaway a fair value of $149.58 with a 1% margin of safety.

The rest of the foundation's second-quarter transactions were in various share classifications of Liberty Global PLC, a London-based telecommunications and media company. The DCF Calculator gives Liberty Global's shares a fair value of $-8.73.

Liberty Global has a P/B of 2.1 and a P/S of 1.6. GuruFocus gives Liberty Global a Financial Strength rating of 3/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 4/10 with ROE of -3.55% that is lower than 74% of the companies in the Global Pay TV industry and ROA of -0.59% that is lower than 70% of the companies in that industry.

The foundation reduced its holding in LBTYK by more than 11% with the sale of 454,082 shares for an average price of $32.21 per share. The deal had a -0.09% impact on the foundation's portfolio.

The foundation now holds 3,639,349 LBTYK shares, which is 0.4% of LBTYK's outstanding shares and 0.62% of the foundation's total assets. Dodge & Cox is LBTYK's leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 26,981,147 shares. The stake is 2.93% of LBTYK's outstanding shares and 0.76% of Dodge & Cox's total assets.

LBTYK sold for $30.01 per share Friday.

The foundation also trimmed its holding in the company's LBTYA shares by more than 11%, selling 264,452 shares for an average price of $33.03 per share. The deal had a -0.05% impact on the portfolio.

The foundation has 2,119,515 LBTYA shares in its portfolio. The stake is 0.23% of LBTYA's outstanding shares and 0.37% of the foundation's total assets. Buffett is LBTYA's leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 19,366,897 shares. The stake is 2.11% of LBTYA's outstanding shares and 0.43% of Buffett's total assets.

LBTYA sold for $30.82 per share Friday.

The foundation added to its holdings in Liberty Global's LILAK and LILA shares.

The foundation increased its position in LILAK by nearly 250% with the purchase of 454,077 shares for an average price of $38.75 per share. The transaction had a 0.09% impact on the portfolio.

The foundation's position, now 636,044 shares, is 0.07% of LILAK's outstanding shares and 0.12% of the foundation's total assets. John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio) is LILAK's leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 4,012,356 shares. The stake is 0.44% of LILAK's outstanding shares and 1.68% of Griffin's total assets.

LILAK sold for $27.52 per share Friday.

The foundation also boosted its holdings in the LILA shares by nearly 250%, purchasing 264,449 shares for an average price of $36.83 per share. The deal had a 0.05% impact on the portfolio.

The foundation's position, now 370,424 shares, is 0.04% of LILA's outstanding shares and 0.07% of the foundation's total assets. Buffett is LILA's leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 2,714,854 shares. The stake is 0.3% of LILA's outstanding shares and 0.07% of Buffett's total assets.