Berkshire Hathaway Sells Moody's Shares Again

Yet again, we see that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has sold more shares of Moody's (MCO). According to a Form 4 filed with the SEC, on March 18th, 2010 they sold 678,962 MCO shares at a price of $29.98. On the next day, Buffett sold an additional 136,943 shares at a weighted average price of $29.8125. Keep in mind though that Berkshire Hathaway still owns over 30.9 million shares of MCO. So while they've reduced their stake in the company numerous times, they still hold a sizable position. Buffett of course was recently named to Forbes' billionaire list.

As we've said all along, we've been expecting Berkshire Hathaway to further reduce their Moody's position based on Buffett's comments about the company not being in as dominant of a position as it once was. Not to mention, each time shares of MCO have traded in the mid to high $20's, they've sold some. So, we'll have to see if this trend continues. For more resources from the legendary investor himself, check out Warren Buffett's recommended reading list as well his recent interview where he discussed succession planning and other topics.

Of Berkshire's remaining share ownership, 15.2 million shares are owned by Berkshire subsidiary National Indemnity Company "NICO" and 15.7 million are owned by Government Employees Insurance Company "GEICO." Taken from Google Finance, Moody's is "a provider of credit ratings; credit and economic related research, data and analytical tools; risk management software, and quantitative credit risk measures, credit portfolio management solutions and training services."

To see what other investments the Oracle of Omaha has made, check out Warren Buffett's portfolio and make sure to read Berkshire Hathaway's annual letter.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Sells More Moody's (MCO)

In a SEC Form 4 filed just now, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A / BRK.B) has disclosed that they sold 6,201 shares of Moody's (MCO) on February 2nd at a weighted average price of $28.4566 per share. Berkshire still owns 31.8 million shares, where 16 million of those are owned by National Indemnity Company, and 15.7 million of which are owned by GEICO, both subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway.

This marks the umpteenth time that Buffett has sold shares and we detailed his sales as recently as late December. Additionally, Berkshire also sold shares in early December, had previously sold Moody's shares in late October, and in months prior as well. As you can see, he is obviously reducing his position size methodically and we've noticed a pattern with his sales. Each time shares of MCO hit the $25-$30 range, he unloads some. We'll have to see if this trend continues because keep in mind, he still owns over 31 million shares.

In Whitney Tilson and hedge fund T2 Partners' annual letter, we saw that they were short Moody's (among other names). Hedge fund colleague David Einhorn & Greenlight Capital are also short MCO. In Einhorn's recent investor letter, he mentioned how this short position has been causing them pain, but they still feel Moody's faces headwinds. Buffett has to be at least somewhat worried about the business going forward as he continues to shed shares on a frequent basis.

Taken from Google Finance, Moody's is "a provider of credit ratings and related research, data and analytical tools, quantitative credit risk measures, risk scoring software, and credit portfolio management solutions and securities pricing software and valuation models. The Company operates in two segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA)."

Warren Buffett Sells Moody's (MCO) Shares... Again

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has sold shares of Moody's (MCO) for the sixth time since July. We've covered Buffett's previous sales and now Berkshire has sold 87,992 shares on December 18th at a price of $26.77 per share. While they've been selling numerous times this year, they still remain Moody's largest shareholder and still own 31,814,610 shares. Berkshire sold shares in early December, previously sold Moody's shares in late October, and in months prior as well.

It has become clear that Buffett at the very least wants to reduce the size of his position. However, some will ponder whether or not Buffett will completely sell out of the name given the frequency of his sales thus far. Unfortunately we'll have to wait and see for the verdict on that one. Given that Buffett has been selling every time Moody's shares reach the mid-to-high 20's, he could potentially just be looking for the right price. Someone who will undoubtedly be fond of these developments is David Einhorn. His hedge fund Greenlight Capital has been publicly short Moody's (MCO) as well as McGraw Hill (MHP) in a bet against the ratings agencies. You can see Einhorn's short thesis in his presentation on the curse of the Triple-A.

Taken from Google Finance, Moody's is "a provider of credit ratings and related research, data and analytical tools, quantitative credit risk measures, risk scoring software, and credit portfolio management solutions and securities pricing software and valuation models. The Company operates in two segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA)."

Warren Buffett Sells Moody's (MCO) Shares Again

In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, legendary investor Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that they have sold more shares of Moody's (MCO). On December 7th they sold 2,004,946 shares at a price of $25.0381 per share. The next day they sold an additional 704,346 shares at a price of $24.8074. In total, they sold 2,709292 shares and they are now left owning 35,357,393 shares. As we mentioned before, Buffett previously sold Moody's shares in late October, and in months prior as well. (Head over to TickerSpy to see Warren Buffett's portfolio).

So while Buffett and Berkshire have been selling shares multiple times over the past few months, keep in mind that they still own a sizable chunk of the company. It's going to be interesting to watch if Buffett continues to sell completely out or if he is merely trimming his position down to avoid possible risks associated with this name. David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital has been publicly short Moody's (MCO) and McGraw Hill (MHP) and you can see his short thesis in his presentation on the curse of the Triple-A. It's certainly a situation worth watching.

To learn to invest like one of the greatest ever, check out Warren Buffett's recommended reading list. For words of wisdom, check out our top 25 Warren Buffett quotes. And lastly, for more insight from Mr. Buffett on this economy, investing, and life then check out his recent talk at Columbia Business School with Bill Gates.

Taken from Google Finance, Moody's is "a provider of credit ratings and related research, data and analytical tools, quantitative credit risk measures, risk scoring software, and credit portfolio management solutions and securities pricing software and valuation models. The Company operates in two segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA)."

Warren Buffett Sells Moody's Shares Again (MCO)

While the dominant headlines yesterday centered around Warren Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) acquisition of Burlington Nothern Santa Fe (BNI), we wanted to highlight one of his other recent moves. Having already trimmed his stake in Moody's (MCO) a few times prior, legendary investor Warren Buffett has sold even more shares of the ratings agency. On October 28th, 2009, Buffett sold 1,133,027 shares at a price of $24.8637. Additionally, he sold 19,600 shares the next day at a price of $25.2728 per share. This brings his total ownership to 38,066,685 shares. These sales are in addition to other transactions he completed back in the beginning of September where he sold 794,388 shares between $26-27. While he has obviously been selling shares, we need to highlight that he does still indeed own quite a sizable chunk of the company. We simply take note because he has now made multiple sales within a few months. Buffett is an iconic American investor and we've compiled some compelling resources on him for those interested. You can check out Warren Buffet's recommended reading list, as well as the top 25 Warren Buffett quotes.

Buffett's actions will certainly be to David Einhorn's liking. Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital has been publicly short Moody's and McGraw Hill (MHP) and we've covered his short thesis in-depth with his presentation on the curse of the Triple-A. It will be interesting to see if Buffett is slowly but surely making his way toward the exit, or if he is merely reducing his stake to a more 'comfortable' level given the potential risks associated with this name.

Lastly, we'd be remiss if we didn't cover the recent news that Buffett will acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $100 per share, a nice premium above $75 where shares had been recently trading. Berkshire Hathaway already owns 23% of BNI so this move obviously makes sense. After all, we noted way back in October of last year that Buffett was selling puts on BNI in an attempt to capture more shares. Speaking on the deal, Buffett said, "It’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States, I love these bets." He is definitely staying true to the piece he penned back in the market panic last year about buying American. This activity in the railroad sector instantly reminds us of the once hedge-fund-favorites Union Pacific (UNP) and CSX (CSX). While many hedge funds dumped these names in the wake of the economic crisis, it will be interesting to see if any of them flock back like vultures now that Buffett has snatched up one of the dominant players in an oligopoly of an industry.

Taken from Google Finance, Burlington Northern is "a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is engaged primarily in the freight rail transportation business. BNSF Railway Company (BNSF Railway) is the Company’s principal operating subsidiary. BNSF Railway operates various facilities and equipment to support its transportation system, including its infrastructure and locomotives and freight cars. It also owns or leases other equipment to support rail operations, including containers, chassis and vehicles. Support facilities for rail operations include yards and terminals throughout its rail network, system locomotive shops to perform locomotive servicing and maintenance, a centralized network operations center for train dispatching and network operations monitoring and management in Fort Worth, Texas, regional dispatching centers, computers, telecommunications equipment, signal systems and other support systems."

Moody's is "a provider of credit ratings and related research, data and analytical tools, quantitative credit risk measures, risk scoring software, and credit portfolio management solutions and securities pricing software and valuation models. The Company operates in two segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA). The MIS segment publishes credit ratings on a range of debt obligations and the entities that issue such obligations in markets worldwide, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities and commercial paper programs. The MA segment develops a range of products and services that support the credit risk management activities of institutional participants in global financial markets. These offerings include quantitative credit risk scores, credit processing software, economic research, analytical models, financial data, securities pricing software and valuation models."

Moody's Bottom Rung List: Companies on Possible Death Watch

This is slightly older (beginning of March), so apologies for just now posting it. But, we figured many readers would still be interested in Moody's 'Bottom Rung' List, a.k.a. companies that are/possibly are screwed. They have assembled this list on the basis of: probability of default of Caa1 or lower, as well as some other companies with negative outlooks and those under review for downgrade. Its quite a large compilation. Do take it all with a grain of salt obviously, as many of these agencies have been behind the curve on downgrading a lot of things in this crisis/recession. So, while they could be hinting at early warning signs of a few companies, they are obviously late to the game on others.

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