2018.05.1600:37:00UTC+00Berkshire Increases Teva Stake by Twofold, Boosts Apple Position

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. disclosed that it has increased its investment in drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and said that it has become tech giant Apple Inc.'s second-biggest shareholder.

Berkshire also divested an investment that showed Buffett's longstanding affection towards newspapers, selling its stake in Graham Holdings Co, the former publisher of the Washington Post.

Berkshire said it held around 40.5 million Teva American depositary receipts (ADRs) worth around $693 million as of that date, higher than the 18.9 million ADRs it owned three months earlier. Shares of Teva climbed 5.1 percent in extended trading on Tuesday. Stocks often rally when Berkshire unveils new or boosted stakes.

Berkshire said majority of the $14.8 billion it invested in equities during the quarter was put into Apple. It said it owned 239.6 million shares worth more than $40 billion. The total figure gave Berkshire an almost 5 percent stake in the iPhone maker, topping BlackRock Inc. and coming after Vanguard Group, Reuters data showed.