Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway a stake in Becton Dickinson, the seller of catheters and laboratory equipment, in a bet on rising demand for medical supplies. Berkshire ended the second quarter with 1.2 million shares of Becton, which has operations in about 50 countries, and increased its holdings of Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health-care products, by 14 percent to 36.9 million shares. According to Bloomberg, Berkshire’s investments in the two firms comes as countries including China increase spending on public health, and the U.S. Congress debates changes in the health-care system that may provide coverage to more Americans. Becton manufactures products including needles and syringes, surgical blades and scalpels and critical-care monitoring devices. The purchase of Johnson & Johnson shares marks the second straight increase in the size of Berkshire’s stake. Buffett said in February he reluctantly sold J&J shares near the end of 2008 to help fund the purchase of $8 billion of preferred shares and warrants of General Electric and Goldman Sachs.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Buys Stake in Becton Dickinson
Berkshire ended the second quarter with 1.2 million shares of Becton, which has operations in about 50 countries, and increased its holdings of Johnson & Johnson.
August 17, 2009