Berkshire raises stakes in J&J, US Bancorp, Wells Fargo

By Lilla Zuill

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) said on Friday it had modestly raised its stake in health-care company Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), and also bumped up ownership of US Bancorp (USB.N) and Wells Fargo (WFC.N), two banks the billionaire has been bullish about.

Berkshire disclosed that as of March 31 it had added 3.9 million shares of J&J, 1.5 million shares of U.S. Bancorp and 12.4 million more Wells shares. The company is Wells' largest shareholder.

Berkshire also bought more shares of two railroads -- Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI.N) and Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) -- but reduced its ownership of energy company stocks.

"The changes were not dramatic," said Morningstar analyst Bill Bergman. "They did not do a lot here, which probably reflects that he is seeing more opportunity in bond markets."

The value of Berkshire's portfolio as of March 31 was unchanged at about $51.87 billion.

The company disclosed a lower stake in oil company ConocoPhillips (COP.N). Buffett said earlier this month that ownership of Conoco had fallen further since the end of March. He has referred to Berkshire's roughly $7 billion investment in Conoco as a major mistake.

The company also cut its holding of Constellation Energy (CEG.N) and of UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), and sold all the Ingersoll Rand (IR.N) and Iron Mountain (IRM.N) shares it had owned.

Berkshire disclosed its holdings in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.