Managers Show Quarterly Holdings; Buffett Buys MasterCard Stake

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) took a stake in MasterCard Inc. (MA) in the first quarter, while Steven Cohen's SAC Capital increased stakes in retail and consumer services companies, according to a pair of regulatory filings on Monday.

Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world's most closely followed investment vehicles, disclosed it held 216,000 MasterCard shares. The holding, which comes as a new investment manager took over a chunk of the company's $115 billion portfolio, is valued at about $60 million based on Monday's closing share price.

Cohen, whose SAC Capital reported a 9.3% increase in securities holdings in the quarter ended March 31, increased a stake in consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. (BBY) to 2.3 million shares from 53,306 at the end of the previous quarter. SAC also more than doubled its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) to 2.8 million shares from 1.1 million.

The disclosures are part of a quarterly filing requirement for investors who manage more than $100 million. The form, known as a 13F, must be filed within 45 days of the end of each quarter. Many money managers wait until the last possible moment to submit their filings, which give the public its freshest possible glimpse into the portfolios of well-known money managers.

Berkshire said it had omitted some information on its holdings in the filing, an action some investment managers take when they're building a new position.

The addition of MasterCard to the portfolio could be the work of Todd Combs, the former hedge-fund manager who was tapped by Buffett to manage a portfolio of about $2 billion to $3 billion at Berkshire. Combs was selected as the company prepares for the day the 80-year-old Buffett will no longer run Berkshire.

Berkshire also disclosed a reduced stake in oil producer ConocoPhillips (COP), trimming the holding less than 1% to about 29 million shares.

SAC also raised its stakes in insurers: Chubb Corp. (CB) holdings were up to 2.3 million shares from 24,198, while XL Group PL (XL) holdings were at 4.4 million shares from 239,564.

-By Erik Holm, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2892; [e-mail]