After a technical snafu delayed its release, Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-A) second-quarter 13F filing was made available Thursday, showing legendary value investor Warren Buffett was busy during the second quarter.
Buffett’s Berkshire sold its stake in newspaper publisher Gannett (NYSE: GCI) and trimmed its stake in ratings agency Moody’s (NYSE: MCO). Berkshire also dramatically slashed its stakes in Kraft Foods (NasdaqGM: KRFT) and Mondelez (NasdaqGM: MDLZ), somewhat diminishing the allure of consumer staples ETFs as an avenue for investors looking to gain exposure to some of Berkshire’s equity holdings. [An ETF Patterned on Buffett’s Wide-Moat Approach]
One ETF that commands consideration as a “mirroring Buffett” play is the Market Vectors Wide Moat ETF (NYSEArca: MOAT). MOAT MOAT tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index, which is designed to focus on companies with distinct competitive advantages. The strategy has been a rewarding one as MOAT has soared 26.6% since coming to market in April 2012. Investors have taken notice and have poured almost $288 million into the fund.
MOAT has previously been highlighted as one of the ETFs with decent exposure to Facebook (NasdaqGM: FB) and that it does have with a 7.4% weight to the social media company. However, MOAT is not only useful for gaining access to companies with deep competitive advantages, a strategy Buffett himself has endorsed, but MOAT also features some Berkshire holdings among its 21-stock lineup. [Like This ETF After Facebook’s Pop]
Berkshire’s “B” shares garner an almost 4.9% weight in MOAT. Berkshire’s 13F also shows the holding company owns stakes in three MOAT constituents: Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), General Electric (NYSE: GE) and oil services provider National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV). Those stocks combine for about 15% of MOAT’s weight.
Facebook was part of a group of eight newly added stocks to MOAT’s index. Others included Schlumberger, Amgen (NasdaqGM: AMGN) and eBay (NasdaqGM: EBAY).