Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc
In a regulatory filing detailing its U.S.-listed stock holdings as of Sept. 30, Berkshire disclosed $5.7 billion (£4.3 billion) of new healthcare stakes, including more than $1.8 billion each in Abbvie Inc
Shares of the drugmakers rose in after-hours trading.
The filing signals where Buffett and his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler see value. Buffett normally handles large investments for Berkshire's $245.3 billion stock portfolio himself.
"COVID-19 has made us think differently about healthcare," said James Armstrong, president of Henry H. Armstrong & Associates in Pittsburgh, which owns Berkshire stock.
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"The sector has become more efficient as big drug companies partner with smaller, inventive rivals," Armstrong added. "But you will always need companies with scale for manufacturing and distribution, including vaccines with global application."
Berkshire did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the third quarter, Berkshire also took a $276 million stake in wireless phone company T-Mobile US Inc
It sold a $1.3 billion stake in Costco Wholesale Corp
The stake in JPMorgan, where Combs is a director, fell by 96%.
Berkshire also bought more stock in the grocer Kroger
The healthcare bet is structured similarly to the more than $6 billion wager that Buffett made on the four largest U.S. airlines.
Buffett sold Berkshire's airline holdings in April, saying the pandemic had changed the industry and made its outlook uncertain.
Other new investments in the quarter included a $6 billion stake in five Japanese trading houses and a $1.5 billion wager on newly public data storage company Snowflake Inc
Berkshire also has more than 90 operating units including Geico car insurance, BNSF railroad and Dairy Queen ice cream.
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