Warren Buffett buys battered stock, sells more Apple

Warren Buffett is arguably the most successful investor of all time. He's amassed an amazingly massive net worth by buying and usually holding stocks for the long haul.

Trained under legendary value fund investor Benjamin Graham, Buffett has demonstrated a proven knack for finding bargains that become big winners.

As a result, his net worth has swelled to $144 billion, good enough to rank him 10th on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

Safe to say that the Oracle of Omaha knows a thing or two about investing, making it wise to keep tabs on his portfolio.

Fortunately, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway discloses its buys and sells in a 13F report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter, making it easy for Main Street investors to track his moves.

Berkshire Hathaway's latest 13F report, which landed this week, shows Buffett continues to sell shares in Apple, his largest holding. It also revealed Buffett snapped up shares in embattled health insurer UnitedHealth Group.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold more Apple stock and bought UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter of 2025.

Image source: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune/Time Inc.

Warren Buffett sells more Apple shares, but it remains Berkshire's biggest holding

Buffett is famous for advocating understanding what you own. Because of their complexity, he's shied away from owning most technology stocks.

A significant exception to his rule, however, has been Apple (AAPL) .

Buffett began buying shares in the consumer electronics giant in 2016 and continued buying, turning Apple into Berkshire Hathaway's biggest individual stock holding in 2017.

Apple represented roughly 50% of Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio at its peak in 2023.

Since, however, Buffett has been selling Apple, locking in big gains to bolster a massive cash war chest that has eclipsed $340 billion.

Apple still represents a significant holding for Berkshire Hathaway, but Buffett has consistently sold shares since the fourth quarter of 2023.

In the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway sold 20 million shares, bringing his remaining stake down to 280 million shares. At its peak, Buffett owned over 915 million shares. Apple totaled about 22% of Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio on June 30.

Buffett makes major bet on UnitedHealthcare after shares collapse

A tenet of Buffett's investing style is buying good companies at fair prices, something he credits Charlie Munger for teaching him.

That approach helped him make big money in the aftermath of the Great Recession, when cash-starved banks, including stalwarts Goldman Sachs and Bank of America came knocking on Buffett's door for dollars in exchange for shares.

In 2011, Buffett invested $5 billion in Bank of America in exchange for $5 billion worth of preferred shares redeemable at a 5% premium that paid a 6% annual dividend. He also got warrants to acquire 700 million shares at $7.14 per share.

He more than tripled his money when he exercised his warrants and sold his preferred stock in 2017, and Bank of America remains the third-largest holding in Berkshire's portfolio despite his selling over 26 million shares last quarter.

Those bargains don't come around every day, but Buffett, or perhaps Berkshire Hathaway portfolio managers Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, hope UnitedHealth Group (UNH) can also be a big winner.

In the second quarter, they picked up 5 million shares at an estimated price of $411, according to Whale Wisdom, a stake valued at roughly $1.6 billion at current prices.

Berkshire Hathaway is certainly buying it off the discount rack.

UnitedHealth Group has suffered significantly since CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024, by Luigi Mangione, reportedly over the company's policies regarding approving healthcare.

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Since then, the company has been criticized for its approval process, drawn the ire of billionaire Bill Ackman over its policies, been the subject of an investigation into its billing practices by the Department of Justice, and, at one point, suspended its financial guidance in the face of unexpectedly higher costs covering Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Unsurprisingly, investors have reacted by pressing the sell button this year, sending UnitedHealth Group's shares tumbling to their lowest levels since Covid in 2020.

UnitedHealth's stock price has lost over 50% of its value in the past year, 46% in 2025, and, before Buffett's big reveal, nearly 5% in the past month.

The company is clearly struggling, and its financials show it. In the second quarter, surging costs caused its earnings per share to sink 40% from a year ago.

That isn't great, but UnitedHealth is an undeniable health insurance Goliath, and older Americans need health insurance. CSI pegs its market share at over 22%, making it the nation's largest health insurer, ahead of rivals CVSHealth and Cigna.

While earnings have slipped, it remains nicely profitable, with plenty of financial firepower. Plus, its arguably pretty darn cheap.

Wall Street expects it to report earnings per share over $16 this year, and over $19 next year. Its got over $32 billion in cash on its balance sheet, and its stock pays a 3% dividend yield.

UnitedHealth's forward price-to-earnings ratio is 11, on the low end of its five-year P/E range of 9 to 30. If things fall into place and its P/E ratio can get to 20, that would get it to $380 in 2026, based on Wall Street's current earnings outlook.

Of course, nobody knows if that will happen, but Buffet seems to think it might. If so, he could wind up with another nice winner on his hands