Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway offloads more of its stake in Bank of America by Investing.com

Investing.com — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: ) sold about $900 million of its stake in Bank of America this week, reducing its holdings in America’s second-largest lender on close to a key reporting threshold.

Berkshire’s stake in Bank of America is now 10.8% of shares outstanding, or about $34 billion. Berkshire, which is still one of Bank of America’s largest shareholders, will have to continue to report its interest regularly as long as its stake is above 10 percent.

Last week, the Omaha, Nebraska-based group disclosed a sale of about 5.8 million Bank of America shares between September 6 and 10.

Buffett has not publicly explained why Berkshire reduced its stake in Bank of America, although he has praised the company in the past. The billionaire investor first purchased $5 billion in preferred stock and warrants from the lender in 2011. He converted that stake to common stock a few years later after Bank of America announced a dividend increase.

According to Bloomberg News calculations, Berkshire’s proceeds from sales of Bank of America shares that began in July, as well as dividends earned since 2011, have now exceeded the $14.6 billion in investments the conglomerate has linked to the lender. The calculations do not include the impact of taxes, Bloomberg noted.

Asked recently about the Berkshire divestitures, Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said he was not in a position to speak with Buffett about the issue.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s doing because, frankly, we can’t ask,” Moynihan said at a financial conference in New York last week. However, he described Buffett as a “great” investor for the bank.

Analysts cited by Reuters suggested that Berkshire may try to reduce its holdings below the 10% threshold to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Once its control is below that level, Berkshire could opt to disclose its Bank of America stake less often, and possibly only in its quarterly updates, Bloomberg reported.

(Reuters contributed to this report.)