Buffett's sales of Bank of America top $3.8 billion
Berkshire Hathaway, run by billionaire Warren Buffett, extended its selling of Bank of America shares, and has shed over $3.8 billion of the second-largest U.S. bank's stock since mid-July.
Berkshire sold approximately 19.2 million Bank of America shares for $779 million between July 30 and Aug. 1, according to a Thursday night regulatory filing.
Buffett's conglomerate has sold 90.4 million Bank of America shares since July 17, in 12 straight trading days of selling.
It remains the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank's largest shareholder, owning 942.4 million shares, or 12.1% of reported shares outstanding, worth about $37.2 billion as of Thursday.
Bank of America shares fell as much as 4.3% in Friday morning trading. Through Thursday, they had fallen more than 10% since Berkshire began selling, while the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index fell just 2.5%.
The sales began after Bank of America's stock price had risen by about two-thirds since late October, and traded at more than 1.2 times book value.
That boosted the value of Berkshire's shares to over $45 billion, more than triple the $14.6 billion it paid for them.
Berkshire must keep reporting sales until its stake falls below 10%. It will report second-quarter earnings on Saturday morning.
Buffett, 93, one of the world's most revered investors, has invested continuously in Bank of America since 2011, when Berkshire bought $5 billion of preferred stock.
That purchase signaled Buffett's confidence in Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan's ability to restore the bank
