Sell-off hits $10 billion mark
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) has further trimmed its stake in Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), surpassing $10 billion in total sales proceeds. The company recently sold approximately 9.57 million shares between October 3 and October 7, generating about $383 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
With this latest sale, Berkshire, which oversees a $300 billion equity portfolio, has reduced its stake in Bank of America to 10.1%, valued at approximately $31.4 billion based on current market prices.
Buffett’s relationship with Bank of America began in 2011, when he acquired a 13.1% stake worth around $45 billion as of July, a report from Seeking Alpha noted. Since mid-July, however, Buffett has systematically reduced his holdings, a move that has contributed to a decline in Bank of America’s stock price, which has fallen about 7% during this period since its peak of $44 in July.
The recent sale marked the 14th round of disposals for Berkshire, which now owns approximately 784.5 million shares of the bank. The shares were sold at an average price of about $40, closing at $39.96 on Monday, reflecting a 0.4% decline.
Buffett’s ongoing reduction of his stake has raised speculation about when the sales might stop, a report from Barron’s noted. To date, Berkshire has sold around 250 million shares of Bank of America.
The sale follows Buffett’s strategic retreat from other major banks in recent years, including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and US Bancorp.
Analysts from Barron’s have projected that Berkshire may stop selling at approximately 700 million, the original amount acquired through equity warrants in 2017.
Investors now await Bank of America’s third-quarter earnings report set for October 15.
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