(Updates to add details of share holdings, reports after-market trading)
By Lavonne Kuykendall and Marshall Eckblad
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett nearly doubled his holdings of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, one of several moves that appear to be bets on how consumers will respond to the lingering economic downturn.
Buffett, the chief executive of investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB), reported his stake in Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, rose to 37.8 million shares from the 19.9 million shares he reported holding at the end of June. Buffett also reported a new stake of 3.4 million ADRs issued by food maker Nestle S.A. (NESN.VX, NSRGY), which competes with Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), another Buffett investment.
Buffett's investments, revealed in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, were worth $56.6 billion on Sept. 30, 15.6% more than at June 30.
Buffett's growing interest in mass-market retailers and food makers come as the global economy struggles to recover from one of the deepest and longest recessions in decades. Many consumers, shell-shocked by layoffs and drops in the value of household assets, have moved away from luxury and high-end brands and stores. That has helped Wal-Mart perform better than many retailers, as customers look for bargains.
Buffett continued to cut back on his reported holdings of ConocoPhillips Co. (COP), and reported that his holdings fell by 7 million shares from June 30, to 57.4 million. He also reported for the first time a stake of 1.28 million shares of oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM). He had begun amassing that stake in the previous quarter, with 854,490 shares but wasn't obligated to report it, according to the filing.
Another new stake was a 3.625 million share investment in waste-management firm Republic Services Inc. (RSG).
Buffett announced earlier this month that he will buy the portion of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI) he doesn't already own, and will sell off his shares of Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) to facilitate the deal.
In the filing, Buffett reported no change in those holdings at Sept. 30, although he told television interviewer Charlie Rose last week that he has sold the shares.
Buffett continued to demonstrate interest in financial shares, boosting his holdings of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) by nearly 11 million shares, to 313.4 million. He also posted a new stake of 27,366 shares of Travelers Cos. Inc. (TRV). He cut his stake in Sun Trust Banks Inc. (STI) shares to around 3.2 million, down about 124,822 shares.
In the filing, Buffett said he's been granted confidential treatment by the SEC for some of his holdings, but he didn't provide any additional detail. Prominent investors are sometimes permitted to temporarily withhold information from their quarterly reports if the disclosure would interfere with an investment strategy.
Buffett reported no stake in Eaton Corp. (ETN), compared with 2 million shares reported on June 30, and no stake in Wabco Holdings Inc. (WBC), from 2.7 million shares.
He also cut his reported stake in NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) by 1.2 million shares to 6 million shares, and cut Wellpoint Inc. (WLP) by just over 100,000 shares, to 3.39 million shares.
Many investors that manage more than $100 million are required to file 13-Fs with their stock holdings within 45 days of the end of a given quarter, which was Monday for the third quarter, giving the public its freshest possible glimpse into their investment philosophy.
Shares usually respond when Buffett reports a change in holdings as investors follow his trades, but share price movement was modest in late trading, with Republic Services up 2% in late trading to $28.52, the biggest recent percentage price change of stocks singled out by Buffett in the filing.
-By Lavonne Kuykendall, Dow Jones Newswires; (312) 750 4141;lavonne.kuykendall@dowjones.com