Buffett’s Berkshire sells $3.8 billion to Bank of America in a 12-day sales period

Warren Buffett isn’t done selling yet bank of America.

Berkshire Hathaway sold a total of 19.2 million BofA shares for nearly $779 million on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at an average sales price of $40.52 per share, according to a new report. regulatory filing.

The conglomerate has now been shedding its banking stakes for 12 consecutive days, with total revenue now exceeding $3.8 billion. The remaining 942.4 million shares have a market value of $37.2 billion as of Thursday’s close at $39.50.

At Thursday’s close, Bank of America fell to third on Berkshire’s list of top holdings, trailing behind Apple And American Express, which is currently valued at $37.7 billion. Before the selloff, BofA had long been Berkshire’s second-largest holding company.

Berkshire remains the bank’s largest shareholder with a 12.1% stake.

Bank shares are down 5.2% so far this week, to a low of $38.98 in Thursday trading, as recession fears plague the financial sector. Year to date, BofA is up more than 17%, outperforming the S&P 500.

Buffett bought $5 billion worth of BofA preferred stock and warrants in 2011 in the wake of the financial crisis, boosting confidence in the embattled lender that was struggling with losses from subprime mortgages. He converted those warrants in 2017, making Berkshire BofA’s largest shareholder, and promised it would be a “long long time”before he would sell.

The legendary investor said at the time that he “really liked” the Charlotte-based bank’s business, valuation and management.

BofA, led by Brian Moynihan since 2010, recently reported strong second-quarter results, which showed rising investment banking and asset management costs, as well as a positive outlook for net interest income.