 "Warren Buffet-led Berkshire Hathaway unloaded over half of their Apple holdings last quarter")
In a rather surprising move, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made a significant sale of Apple stock in the second quarter of 2024, marking the largest reduction in its Apple holdings in years. This sale involved approximately 400 million shares, which occurred before the post-Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) stock peak.
As of December 2023, Berkshire Hathaway held roughly $174.3 billion in Apple stock. However, according to a recent report, the company’s holdings have decreased to about $84.2 billion, excluding any additional sales in the past month. The highest price at which the shares could have been sold was $192.35 on May 21. Interestingly, Apple stock reached its highest price of the year at $234.82 on July 16, just weeks after the quarter ended. On the Friday following Apple’s earnings report, which exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, the stock closed at $219.86.
Following the sale, Berkshire Hathaway now owns around 2.6 per cent of Apple, a stake valued at approximately $88 billion. This latest sale is part of a series of stake reductions. In the first quarter of 2024, the firm sold about 12.5 per cent of its Apple holdings, and it also ended 2023 with a sale of Apple stock. Despite these moves, Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding in terms of value.
This isn’t the first time Berkshire Hathaway has trimmed its Apple stake. Similar percentages of Apple shares were sold in 2020 and 2021. Reflecting on those sales, Warren Buffett later acknowledged that reducing their Apple holdings was “probably a mistake.”
The timing of the recent sale, missing out on the post-WWDC stock peak, raises questions about the strategic considerations behind the move. While the exact motivations are not publicly detailed, the sale could reflect a broader strategy to diversify Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio or to capitalize on favourable market conditions at the time of sale.
While Berkshire Hathaway has significantly reduced its Apple holdings, the company still retains a substantial stake in the tech giant. The sale underscores the dynamic nature of investment strategies, even for seasoned investors like Warren Buffett.
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