Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate last quarter sold more than $800M of AAPL stock, according to SEC filings…
Business Insider suggests a couple of possible reasons for the sale. One of them seems unlikely – just a desire to cash out after the surge in value. Buffett has always invested for the long-term, rather than moving in and out of a stock for short-term gains.
But a second suggestion seems a good fit.
The amounts pretty much tally.
So $800M freed-up for purchases totaling $741M.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said last year that he was thrilled Buffett invested in AAPL when it was revealed that Berkshire Hathaway had increased its holding to over $50B of the stock. Since then, the conglomerate has boosted its stake to 5.4% of the company, currently worth $72B. So selling $800M of AAPL is pretty inconsequential by Buffett standards.
Buffett said back in 2018 that he’d love to own the company outright.
Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Buffett said that his company owns about 5% of Apple stock right now, and wants to own more: he’d ‘love to own 100% of it’.
Of course, due to lack of capital, regulatory barriers and simple logistics, it’s impossible for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire all of a company as large as Apple.
However, his jovial comments send the message that he is very confident in Apple’s financials and business, with a positive outlook on the stock.
