Berkshire Expands Dividend Holdings, Buys UnitedHealth and Nucor

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a flurry of portfolio moves in the second quarter that underscore Warren Buffett's preference for high-quality, income producing companies bought at discounted prices. The conglomerate added more than a dozen dividend paying stocks to its holdings and took particularly large stakes in UnitedHealth Group and steelmaker Nucor, moves valued at roughly 1.6 billion and close to 1 billion respectively. The activity comes even as Berkshire sits on a record cash and Treasury bill pile and continues to sell into other positions.

Berkshire reported holding about 344 billion in cash and Treasury bills as of the second quarter. Buffett has repeatedly explained his willingness to hold dry powder when market valuations look extended, saying at a recent shareholders meeting, "If we've got 335 billion now in Treasuries, we would rather have conditions that are developed where we would have, like, 50 billion or something like that. But that just is not the way the business works." He and his deputies nevertheless deployed capital opportunistically in Q2, opening six new positions and increasing stakes in six others.

UnitedHealth was the largest single new commitment....