AP
Warren Buffett once said he'd love to own 100% of Apple.
- Berkshire Hathaway purchased more Apple shares in the first quarter, according to a regulatory filing.
- Its investment is now worth over $50 billion, and received a boost as Apple's market cap crossed the $1 trillion milestone.
- The conglomerate owned about 246.5 million shares, or about 5.1% of Apple, as of June 30.
- The share purchases came amid speculation over how Berkshire will deploy a growing mountain of cash.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway can't seem to get enough of Apple.
A regulatory filing released on Saturday showed that the conglomerate added 2.67 million shares to its stake in the first quarter, which was worth nearly $50 billion as of June 30. Berkshire Hathaway owned approximately 246.5 million shares at the time, or 5.1% of the company's outstanding shares.
Assuming Berkshire Hathaway hasn't bought or sold more share since then, the stake was worth $51.3 billion in early trading on Monday, making it by far the most valuable slice of any company Buffett is invested in.
Buffett's stake certainly received a boost last week as Apple became the first US company to top $1 trillion in market cap. The stock rallied to the magic $207.05 price after Apple beat Wall Street's expectations for second-quarter earnings.
Berkshire Hathaway is the third-largest shareholder in Apple, behind Vanguard and BlackRock, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
Earlier this year, Buffett told CNBC that he would "love to own 100 percent" of Apple. He added, "we like very much the management, and the way they think, and the way they act."
Berkshire first disclosed its stake in the iPhone maker in 2016, and subsequent announcements of more buying have lifted Apple's stock price.
Berkshire's additional stake was purchased amid speculation over how the company will use its growing cash pile. Its second-quarter earnings results, also released on Saturday, showed that its cash and cash equivalents swelled to $111.1 billion during the quarter.
Buffett said in his most recent shareholder letter that he was eager to make deals, but couldn't find businesses with "sensible" purchase prices.
In the interim, Buffett is happy to scoop up more Apple shares.