What Berkshire's 13F Filing Reveals About Its Verizon Position

2026-02-07 16:10:51

When investment enthusiasts ask about Warren Buffett’s current stock holdings, Form 13F filings often become the focus. The question “Does Buffett own Verizon?” reflects a broader investor curiosity about tracking major institutional moves. Understanding how to read and interpret a 13F filing is essential for anyone wanting to follow Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio decisions. As of the last comprehensive 13F snapshot in mid-2022, Berkshire Hathaway reported no Verizon position — but this disclosure tells a more nuanced story about how institutional holdings change and how to verify holdings yourself.

Understanding Form 13F: The Institutional Ownership Window

The 13F filing is the primary public document that reveals what large U.S. investment managers own. Warren Buffett, as the longtime chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, leads one of the world’s largest diversified holding companies. Because Berkshire manages massive capital and its investment decisions often influence market sentiment, financial analysts and individual investors alike watch its 13F filings closely.

A 13F filing is filed quarterly and captures institutional equity holdings at the end of each three-month period. The SEC requires investment managers with over a certain asset threshold to disclose their U.S.-listed equity positions. However, important limitations exist: a 13F is a snapshot at quarter-end, meaning it does not capture trades made during the quarter, nor does it show options positions, short sales, cash holdings, or other non-equity assets. Additionally, 13F filings are filed up to 45 days after the quarter closes, so the most recent 13F available is always a historical record, not a real-time position report.

The Verizon Trade: What the 2022 13F Filings Showed

In early to mid-2022, financial media and 13F tracking services noted that Berkshire Hathaway held shares of Verizon Communications (ticker: VZ) at some point during the year. Multiple financial outlets, including Reuters and CNBC, covered Berkshire’s equity holdings during that period. However, when Berkshire filed its 13F covering the quarter ended June 30, 2022 — reported in mid-August 2022 — the filing contained no reported Verizon position.

What does this mean? The 13F snapshot for Q2 2022 showed zero VZ shares held by Berkshire Hathaway at quarter-end. Because 13F filings do not disclose the exact timing of trades within a quarter or which portfolio manager executed the sale, observers can only conclude that Berkshire exited its Verizon stake sometime during the first half of 2022. Reuters and other financial press outlets highlighted this change when summarizing the June 30, 2022 filing, noting that Berkshire’s reported Verizon exit reflected typical portfolio management — potentially driven by reallocation, valuation reassessment, or shifting capital priorities.

Why might Berkshire have trimmed or exited the position? Common reasons large institutional managers adjust holdings include portfolio rebalancing (shifting sector weights), identifying higher-return opportunities elsewhere, reducing risk concentration, or managing liquidity for acquisitions and buybacks. The 13F filing itself does not reveal motivation or whether the trade reflected deep conviction or tactical positioning. It simply shows the endpoint: no Verizon on the balance sheet at that quarter’s end.

How to Check Berkshire’s Latest 13F Holdings Yourself

If you want a current answer to whether Berkshire owns Verizon today, you need to consult the latest Form 13F filing. Here is a straightforward verification method:

Access the SEC EDGAR Database: Visit the SEC’s EDGAR database (sec.gov/cgi-bin) and search for Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent Form 13F filing. The filing includes a detailed holdings table listing all reported U.S. equities, their share counts, and market values as of the quarter-end date.

Search for Verizon Communications: Within the 13F holdings table, search for Verizon Communications or the ticker symbol VZ. If shares are listed, note the reported quantity and value; if VZ does not appear, Berkshire held no reported position at that quarter-end.

Verify the Filing Date and Quarter: Confirm the reporting date and quarter-end date of the 13F you are reviewing. This ensures you understand the snapshot timing and know how current the information is.

Cross-Reference with 13F Aggregators: Services like WhaleWisdom, Bankrate, Motley Fool, and CNBC maintain searchable databases of 13F filings and portfolio summaries. These platforms can help you quickly identify whether Verizon appears in Berkshire’s latest holdings and often provide quarter-to-quarter comparisons showing position changes over time.

Common 13F Misinterpretations Investors Make

Many individual investors misunderstand what a 13F filing actually tells us. Here are frequent misconceptions:

“If Buffett sold Verizon, it must be a bad investment.” Not necessarily. A 13F exit could reflect portfolio rebalancing, tax considerations, finding better opportunities, or reducing position concentration — not a pronouncement on the underlying company’s merits. Large institutional portfolios constantly adjust holdings for reasons that may have nothing to do with the company’s fundamentals.

“The 13F shows Warren Buffett’s personal holdings.” This is incorrect. The 13F reports consolidated holdings of Berkshire Hathaway as a corporate entity. Different investment teams within Berkshire may manage different portions of the portfolio, and the 13F does not attribute specific trades to individuals like Buffett or other managers. The form reflects Berkshire’s institutional position, not Buffett’s personal stock account.

“A 13F shows all the buying and selling that happened.” False. The 13F only shows net positions at quarter-end. Significant intra-quarter trading activity, option strategies, and short positions are invisible in a 13F. A stock could have been bought and sold multiple times during a quarter, yet the net position would show zero.

“If a major investor owns it, I should buy it too.” Institutional ownership is informational; it is not investment advice for your personal situation. Different investors have different time horizons, risk tolerances, capital scales, and financial goals. A position that makes sense for a $1 trillion diversified holding company may not fit your portfolio or objectives.

Your Step-by-Step Checklist for Conducting 13F Research

Use this practical checklist whenever you want to definitively answer whether Berkshire (or any large institutional manager) owns a specific stock:

Identify the target company and ticker symbol. For Verizon, the ticker is VZ. For any company you are researching, ensure you have the correct ticker.
Navigate to the SEC EDGAR database. Go to sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar and search for the institutional filer (e.g., Berkshire Hathaway) and form type 13F.
Locate the most recent Form 13F filing. Identify the latest quarter available and download or review the filing document.
Open the holdings table and search for your target ticker. Most 13F filings include a detailed exhibit listing all holdings. Use your browser’s search function to find VZ or the company name.
Record the share count, value, and quarter-end date. If the holding appears, note these details. If it does not appear, Berkshire held no reported position at that quarter-end.
Compare to the previous quarter’s 13F. To see if the position changed, pull the prior-quarter 13F and repeat the search. Comparing consecutive filings shows whether a position was added, maintained, reduced, or eliminated.
Check a 13F aggregator for a parsed summary. Platforms like WhaleWisdom allow you to view historical holdings side-by-side and highlight changes, saving time on manual comparison.
Avoid over-interpreting a single quarter. A one-quarter absence does not necessarily mean permanent exit. Monitor subsequent quarters to see if the position reappears. Similarly, a single quarter of ownership does not guarantee long-term conviction.

Key Takeaways for Tracking Institutional Moves

The question of whether Buffett owns Verizon is ultimately answerable through Form 13F filings, but the answer reflects only a specific quarter-end snapshot. As of mid-2022, Berkshire Hathaway reported no Verizon position in its 13F covering the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Whether that remains true today requires checking the latest 13F filing available on the SEC EDGAR database.

Investors who treat institutional holdings as valuable research inputs — rather than as direct recommendations — gain a useful perspective on how large managers allocate capital. However, individual investors should conduct their own fundamental analysis of any company, consider their personal financial goals and risk tolerance, and use institutional ownership data as one input among many. A 13F filing reveals past allocation decisions; it does not personalize recommendations for your unique situation.

To stay current on Berkshire’s evolving portfolio, consult the most recent quarterly 13F filing, use 13F tracking services for historical comparisons, and pair that research with your own due diligence on company fundamentals, competitive positioning, dividend history, and valuation relative to your investment timeline and objectives.

Disclaimer: This article is informational and references public SEC filings and financial press reporting. It does not constitute investment advice. Always verify current holdings directly with the most recent Form 13F filing in the SEC EDGAR database and conduct your own research before making investment decisions.

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