Warren Buffett will speak and meet with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders ahead of their annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2024.
David A. Grogan
Berkshire Hathaway have been shortened enormously bank of America for the first time in four and a half years after the bank’s strong run in 2024.
Warren Buffett’s conglomerate sold 33.9 million Bank of America shares for nearly $1.5 billion in separate sales on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at an average selling price of $43.56. a regulatory declaration showed.
It was the first time since the fourth quarter of 2019 that the Omaha-based conglomerate has reduced its stake. Still, Bank of America remains Berkshire’s largest stock holding after Apple, with 999 million shares with a market value of nearly $43 billion. Meanwhile, Berkshire is still Bank of America’s largest shareholder with a 10.8% stake.
Berkshire could take some profits as Bank of America is up 27.4% so far this year to its highest level since March 2022. In the first quarter, Buffett cut Berkshire’s shares in Apple by 13% for tax reasons brought back after significant gains.
bank of America
Bank of America shares fell slightly on Monday following the news.
Bad idea
The Oracle of Omaha’s purchase of Bank of America has become one of the most endearing Wall Street stories. In 2011, the legendary investor bought $5 billion worth of preferred stock and warrants from the bank to boost confidence in the lender as it struggled with losses from subprime mortgages in the wake of the financial crisis.
Buffett later revealed that he got the idea while taking a bath in his bathtub.
“By the way, with that BofA purchase, it was literally true that I was in the bath when I came up with the idea of checking with…BofA to see if they would be interested in it,” he said at Berkshire’s 2017 annual meeting. when he first converted the warrants and added the bank stocks to his portfolio.
The 93-year-old investor said he was attracted to CEO Brian Moynihan’s leadership and the franchise’s profit-generating capabilities.
Moynihan later recalled that Buffett initially tried to reach him via Bank of America’s public telephone line but was rejected by the call center. Despite the hiccups, the deal was completed within hours, he said.