Bloomberg reported that this increase in liquidity at the company, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, came as its billionaire president, Warren Buffett, continued to refrain from making major acquisitions, while reducing some of his most important equity stakes.
Berkshire Hathaway revealed in its statement on Saturday that it had reduced its stake in…Apple” once again.
The value of the company’s stake in the iPhone maker was $69.9 billion at the end of the third quarter, down from $84.2 billion in the second quarter, which indicates that the company reduced its stake by about 25 percent, according to Bloomberg.
And it was “BerkshireIt first disclosed its Apple stake in 2016 and spent $31.1 billion for the 908 million Apple shares it held until the end of 2021.
During the third quarter, Berkshire was a net seller of stock, reporting net stock sales of $34.6 billion in the three months through September.
Bloomberg reported that Berkshire struggled to find ways to deploy its cash pile, as Buffett found market prices too high to find attractive deals.
At its annual shareholder meeting last May, Buffett, 94, said Berkshire was in no rush to spend “unless we think we’re doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money.”
Berkshire shares have risen 25 percent this year, boosting its market value to $974.3 billion. Its market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion for the first time on August 28.
According to the statement issued today, Berkshire’s operating profits in the third quarter decreased by 6 percent from the previous year, to $10.09 billion, with a decrease in insurance underwriting profits.
