Berkshire unloads another piece of Bank of America as CEO Moynihan praises Buffett as big shareholder

of Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway downloaded another piece of Bank of America shares, bringing its total sales to more than $7 billion as of mid-July and reducing its stake to 11 percent.

The Omaha conglomerate disposed of a total of 5.8 million BofA shares in separate sales on Friday, Monday and Tuesday for nearly $228.7 million at an average sale price of $39.45 per share, according to a new filing regulation.

The latest action extended Berkshire’s selling streak to 12 straight sessions, matching the 12-straight session from July 17 to August 1.

Berkshire sold more than 174.7 million shares of the Charlotte-based bank for $7.2 billion, with 858.2 million shares remaining, or 11.1 percent of shares outstanding. BofA fell to No. 3 on Berkshire’s list of top holdings, after Apple and American Express. Before the sales, BofA had long been Berkshire’s second-largest holding company.

Buffett bought $5 billion worth of BofA’s preferred stock and warrants in 2011 after the financial crisis. He converted those warrants in 2017, making Berkshire BofA’s largest shareholder. The “Oracle of Omaha” then added 300 million shares to his bet around 2018 and 2019.

BofA CEO Brian Moynihan made a rare comment about Berkshire’s sales on Tuesday, saying he did not know Buffett’s motivation for the sale.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s doing, because frankly, we can’t ask him. We wouldn’t ask him,” he said during the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference, according to a transcript on FactSet. “But on the other hand, the market absorbs the stock … we buy some of the stock and so life will go on.”

BofA shares are down about 1% since early July, and the stock is up 16.7% this year, slightly outperforming the S&P 500.

Moynihan, who has led the bank since 2010, praised the 94-year-old’s shrewd investment in his bank in 2011, which helped build confidence in the embattled lender, which has been struggling with subprime losses.

“He was a great investor in our company and stabilized our company when we needed it at the time,” he said.

To illustrate how profitable Buffett’s investment was, Moynihan said that if investors had bought his bank stock the same day Buffett did, they would have been able to capture the low price of $5.50 per share . The stock last traded at just under $40 apiece.

“He had the guts to do it in a big way. And he did. And it was a fabulous return for him. We’re happy he got it,” Moynihan said.

— CNBC’s Alex Crippen contributed reporting.