Berkshire Hathaway continues to reduce its stake in Apple for the third quarter in a row, with Warren Buffett selling about a quarter of his company's stake in Apple. Berkshire owns about $69.9 billion in Apple shares as of the end of September, down from about $84.2 billion at the end of the last quarter.
Buffett's firm has been steadily reducing its stakes in Apple and other companies throughout 2024. They sold 13% of their Apple stake in the first quarter of 2024 and about 50% in the second quarter of 2024. This new sale of about 25% means they now own about 300 million Apple shares, down from 400 million at the end of Q2.
At the end of 2023, Hathaway owned about 905 million Apple shares, making their holdings about a third of what they used to. At the market close on November 1, those 905 million Apple shares would have been worth about $201.7 billion.
Meanwhile, all of this is happening as Berkshire Hathaway is amassing a record-high cash hoard. At the end of Q2, their cash hoard was about $277 billion. Now, it’s about $325 billion.
Warren Buffett has previously said that Apple will remain their largest holding unless “something dramatic happens that really changes the allocation of capital.” He also said earlier in the first quarter that the decision to shorten Apple shares was primarily for tax purposes, though the ongoing selling seems to suggest otherwise.
With Apple shares currently at near-record highs, the sale may simply be the company's move to reduce risk.
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