The Class A shares closed today at $680,330, up almost 1% on the day and almost 2% this week. It’s their 23rd closing high so far this year.
They have gained 9.7% since ending at $640,040 on August 5.
The percentages for the more widely held Class B shares are similar.
They closed today at $453.38, up nearly 1% on the day and exactly 2% this week. The B shares have scored 25 record closing highs since the start of the year.
The gain since their near-term low of $413.72 on August 5 is 9.6%.
Barron’s thinks investors now are nervous that high-flying tech stocks could slump and they remember how Warren Buffett beat the market when the dotcom bubble burst around the turn of the century.
“With concerns about tech valuations and a possible recession at the forefront of investors’ minds, betting on Buffett doesn’t seem like a bad thing to do. That’s especially true given his large cash position, which he’ll either put to work on new investments or use to buffer the downside.”
Bank of America sales resume
After a nine-session break, Berkshire Hathaway got back to reducing its Bank of America holdings.
According to an SEC filing Monday night, it sold a total of almost 14 million shares on August 15, 16, and 19, bringing in more than $550 million. The average selling price was $39.42.
Because it owns more than 10% of BofA’s shares, Berkshire must reveal any additional moves within two business days.
There was no filing Thursday or tonight, so it appears the recent three-day streak ended on Monday, with no selling Tuesday or Wednesday.
Combined with the 12-session selling streak in the second half of July, Berkshire has cut its position by 11.2% with the sale of 104.4 million shares for $4.4 billion. The overall average price is $41.91.
That leaves it with a 12.0% stake of 928.5 million shares valued at nearly $37 billion at today’s close of $39.77.
It is Berkshire’s third largest equity position after Apple ($90.7 billion), American Express ($38.1 billion), and ahead of Coca-Cola ($27.9 billion).
BofA has dropped roughly 10% since Berkshire started selling, although it has partially recovered since its near-term closing low of $36.65 on August 5 just after Berkshire concluded its first string of sales.
Over the same time period that BAC dropped 9.9%, the financial sector, as represented by the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), gained more than 2.1%.
