Berkshire adds WellPoint; ups J&J, Sanofi stakes

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) on Tuesday disclosed a 979,700 share stake as of March 31 in WellPoint Inc. (WLP.N), the largest U.S. health insurer by membership.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire said the stake was valued at $79.5 million as of March 31. Berkshire also disclosed increased stakes in two other companies in the health care space, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and France's Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA).

Berkshire also disclosed lowered stakes in Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP.N), Anheuser-Busch Cos. (BUD.N), H&R Block Inc. (HRB.N) and Western Union Co. (WU.N), and a higher stake in Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC.N).

In a separate filing, Berkshire revealed it had taken stakes in Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC.N) and Union Pacific Corp. (UNP.N). Berkshire had previously disclosed holding a stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI.N) and two other railroad companies, without naming either.

((Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net, 646 223 6317)) Keywords: BERKSHIRE/ Keywords: BERKSHIRE/

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