Before Retiring, Warren Buffett Sold These 3 Stocks and Piled Into This High-Yield Investment

Warren Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRKB)(NYSE: BRKB) CEO at the end of 2025, passing the reins to Greg Abel. While Buffett remains at Berkshire as the chairman of the company's board of directors, his departure from the CEO position marks the end of a legendary and highly lauded era. Read on for a look at three stocks Berkshire heavily sold out of in the fourth quarter -- and one high-yield dividend stock it continued to pile into.

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Berkshire sold large blocks of these three stocks

Berkshire Hathaway was once again a net seller of stocks in the fourth quarter, and its divestitures were heavily concentrated across three companies:

• Amazon -- Berkshire sold 7.7 million shares of Amazon stock in the fourth quarter, reducing its total holdings in the company by 77%. The tech stock now accounts for just 0.1% of Berkshire's holdings.
• Apple -- Buffett's company continued to trim its exposure to Apple stock in last year's fourth quarter. The company sold 10.3 million shares of the tech giant's stock in the period, reducing its total holdings by 4.3%. Apple stock still ranks as the holding company's top holding by weight, accounting for 19.5% of its total stock portfolio.
• Bank of America -- Berkshire sold roughly 50.8 million shares of Bank of America in Q4, reducing its total share count by 8.9%. Bank of America ranks as the fourth-largest holding in the company's stock portfolio, accounting for 8.2% of total weight.

Berkshire's stock moves in Q4 continued the trend of reducing exposure to the tech and banking industries, with another round of big sales of Apple stock and Bank of America stock playing big roles in reducing the holding company's exposure to equities and boosting its cash pile.

Berkshire bought this high-yield stock

In addition to initiating a stake in The New York Times and increasing its position in Chubb, Berkshire notably increased its holdings in one high-yield dividend stock in Buffett's last quarter as CEO. The investment conglomerate purchased more than 8 million additional shares of energy giant Chevron's (NYSE: CVX) stock last quarter, increasing its total holdings by 6.6%.

Chevron currently ranks as Berkshire's fifth-largest holding by weight and accounts for roughly 7.6% of its total public stock holdings.As of this writing, the stock carries a forward yield of 3.9%.

While concerns about an artificial intelligence (AI) valuation bubble and the possibility that AI technologies will drive disruption in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) space have spurred volatility for tech stocks, the energy sector has emerged as a hot defensive play. In addition to its defensive characteristics, the energy sector offers exposure to the AI trend, because data centers have massive power requirements.

Chevron stock has risen 18% over the last year and delivered a dividend-adjusted total return of roughly 22% across the stretch. With Berkshire moving out of Bank of America shares and adding to its holdings of the energy giant, it wouldn't be surprising to see Chevron become the investment conglomerate's fourth-largest holding sometime this year.

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, and The New York Times Co. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.