Berkshire sells more Apple shares; stock falls

Investing.com -- Apple shares declined roughly 0.6% in premarket trading on Monday after Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa ) revealed a significant reduction in its Apple holdings during the third quarter.

The premarket slide adds to Apple's 1.3% fall on Friday.

According to a quarterly report from Berkshire released Saturday, Warren Buffett's investment firm offloaded around 100 million Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL ) over the summer, slashing its stake by 25% and leaving it with about 300 million shares.

Apple, despite the sales, remains Berkshire's largest stock position, valued at approximately $69.9 billion. However, the sales of Apple stock comprised a large portion of the $36.1 billion in total stock sales by Berkshire in the quarter, which included shares of Bank of America.

So far in 2024, Berkshire has sold more than 600 million of the iPhone maker's shares.

Berkshire's decision to reduce its exposure to Apple aligns with Buffett's remarks in May, in which he acknowledged Apple's position as a core holding but noted that taking profits made sense given the likelihood of higher federal taxes on investment gains in the future.

In addition to its Apple sales, Berkshire reported a 6% decline in quarterly operating profit due to factors such as rising insurance liabilities, currency losses, and the impact of Hurricane Helene.

Despite these setbacks, Berkshire saw improved performance from its BNSF railroad, Geico car insurance, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy units, which benefited from increased consumer shipments and reduced operating expenses.

Berkshire, a net seller of stocks for the eighth consecutive quarter, purchased just $1.5 billion in equities and did not repurchase any of its own shares, a signal that Buffett may not consider even Berkshire's stock to be undervalued at present.

Source: Investing.com