Buffett’s Berkshire Buys Stakes in Domino’s and Pool Corp.

(Bloomberg) — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought stock in Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Pool Corp. during the third quarter as Chairman Warren Buffett cut back on some long-held investments. Shares of the two new holdings jumped in late New York trading.

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The founder of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate acquired about 1.3 million shares in the pizza retailer, giving Berkshire a 3.6% stake valued about $550 million, the company said in a regulatory filing Thursday.

Berkshire also bought a 1% stake in pool equipment wholesale distributor Pool Corp. valued at about $152 million.

Meanwhile, Buffett’s firm sold most of its shares in cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty, a holding it originally acquired in the previous quarter. Ulta Beauty shares fell more than 4% in extended trading. Domino’s and Pool added more than 7% after-hours immediately after the filing.

The 94-year-old investing guru, whose moves are widely followed and imitated by devoted followers, has whittled down some of his marquee holdings in recent months, cutting Apple Inc. by about 25% and Bank of America Corp. to bring it below the 10% threshold.

The disposals of Apple shares reduced Berkshire’s allocation to the technology sector by about 3%. All told, Berkshire reported $34.6 billion of net share sales in the three months through September. Combined with the absence of a share buyback during the quarter, the sales pushed Berkshire’s cash hoard to a record $325.2 billion.

“We’d love to spend it,” Buffett told shareholders about the cash pile in May, “but we won’t spend it unless we think we’re doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money.”

(Updates with Ulta Beauty holding in fourth paragraph.)

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