Reduced holdings by 5% in six days! Is Buffett "clearing out" Bank of America?
Buffett recently sold 52 million shares of Bank of America, cashing out $2.3 billion, and may continue to sell. Berkshire still holds 980 million shares of Bank of America, worth about $41 billion. Buffett may continue to reduce his holdings, with the current stake dropping to 12.6%. This sale coincides with a general rise in US bank stocks, causing Bank of America's stock price to lag behind
Buffett is selling Bank of America's stock again.
According to the filing submitted to the SEC by Berkshire Hathaway on the 24th, between July 22nd and 24th, Berkshire Hathaway reduced its holdings of nearly 19 million shares of Bank of America stock, totaling approximately $800 million.
Just on July 17-19, Berkshire Hathaway had reduced its holdings of 33.89 million shares of Bank of America stock . This means that Berkshire Hathaway has sold nearly 52.89 million shares of Bank of America in six trading days, worth about $2.3 billion.
After two rounds of selling, Berkshire Hathaway still holds 980 million shares of Bank of America, although its ownership stake has dropped to 12.6%. Berkshire Hathaway remains the largest shareholder of Bank of America, with a market value of approximately $41 billion.
Some analysts believe that based on Buffett's previous habit of clearing positions, this round of selling Bank of America's stock may not have stopped yet. Buffett may first reduce Berkshire Hathaway's ownership stake in Bank of America to below 10% (which means selling about 200 million more shares), and then Berkshire Hathaway will no longer need to report its trades within two days, as Buffett prefers to buy and sell stocks without rapid public disclosure.
Previously, Berkshire Hathaway completely cleared its holdings of companies such as HP, US Bancorp, and Paramount Global at this pace, but it is currently unclear when Berkshire Hathaway will stop selling.
Buffett's timing for selling Bank of America's stock this time is also quite clever, taking advantage of the recent general rise in bank stocks in the US stock market. It is precisely because of Berkshire Hathaway's continuous selling that the recent performance of Bank of America's stock has lagged behind some of its peers. On Thursday, Bank of America's stock closed at $41.68, down 1.2%, while major peers such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo saw their stock prices rise