Berkshire sells more BofA shares, netting $9 billion since July By Reuters

(Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: ) offloaded more shares in Bank of America, its latest filing showed on Tuesday, taking in about $9 billion since July.

The conglomerate said it sold about 21 million shares between Sept. 20 and 24 for about $863 million, following sales of about 45.6 million shares in multiple rounds earlier in the month.

Berkshire — which is still BofA’s largest shareholder — now owns a 10.5 percent stake in the major U.S. bank worth $32.13 billion, according to LSEG data. If its stake falls below 10%, it will no longer be required to regularly report stake sales.

Earlier this month, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan praised Warren Buffett, saying he was a “great investor” who “stabilized” the company.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s doing because, frankly, we can’t ask,” Moynihan told investors at a financial conference in New York.

Buffett began investing in the bank in 2011, when Berkshire bought $5 billion worth of preferred stock, signaling his confidence in Moynihan’s ability to restore the lender to health after the 2008 financial crisis.

The 94-year-old billionaire swapped preferred stock for common stock in 2017 after exercising warrants.

In April 2023, he told CNBC that he liked Moynihan “enormously” and did not want to sell the bank’s stock at the time, despite exiting other banking investments.

Shares of BofA were last marginally lower in premarket trading. The stock is up about 17 percent so far this year, while the bank index, which tracks large-cap banks, is up nearly 19 percent.

The benchmark S&P 500 has gained about 20% year to date.