Finance

Berkshire unloads another chunk of Bank of America as CEO Moynihan lauds Buffett as great shareholder

Published

4 months ago

September 11, 2024

Business Finance News

Warren Buffett speaks during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 4, 2024.

CNBC

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway offloaded another chunk of Bank of America shares, bringing its total sales to more than $7 billion since mid-July and reducing its stake to 11%.

The Omaha-based conglomerate shed a total of 5.8 million BofA shares in separate sales on Friday, Monday and Tuesday for almost $228.7 million at an average selling price of $39.45 per share, according to a new regulatory filing.

The latest action extended Berkshire’s selling streak to 12 consecutive sessions, matching the 12 consecutive sessions from July 17 to Aug. 1.

Berkshire has 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% of shares outstanding. BofA has fallen to the No.3 spot on Berkshire’s list of top holdings, trailing behind Apple and American Express. Before the selling spree, BofA had long been Berkshire’s second biggest holding.

Moynihan on Buffett

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

BofA CEO Brian Moynihan made a rare comment about Berkshire’s sales Tuesday, saying he has no knowledge of Buffett’s motivation for selling.

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

Bank of America

Shares of BofA have dipped just about 1% since the start of July, and the stock is up 16.7% this year, slightly outperforming the S&P 500.

Moynihan, who has been leading the bank since 2010, praised the 94-year-old’s shrewd investment in his bank in 2011, which helped shore up confidence in the embattled lender struggling with losses tied to subprime mortgages.

“He’s been a great investor for our company, and stabilized our company when we needed at the time,” he said.

To illustrate how lucrative Buffett’s investment has been, Moynihan said if investors were to buy 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 just under $40 apiece.

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

— CNBC’s Alex Crippen contributed reporting.

Finance

Market speculation picks up to start 2025 as crypto stocks jump

Published

3 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Business Finance News

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 31, 2024.

NYSE

Crypto trades jumping. Roaring Kitty boosting meme stocks. Broader market ripping on no apparent catalysts.

Animal spirits are on the run at the dawn of 2025 trading.

Many speculative pockets of the stock market surged in early trading Thursday, the first session of the new year, right after the S&P 500 closed out the best two-year run since 1998.

Stocks tied to the price of bitcoin jumped as the cryptocurrency climbed back over $96,000. Microstrategy added 4% premarket after climbing more than 360% in 2024. Crypto-related companies Coinbase, Robinhood, Mara Holdings and Riot Platforms also traded higher after a big 2024.

Elsewhere, retail traders active on social media were busy playing a guessing game after online personality Roaring Kitty posted another cryptic message on X of a short clip of the late musician Rick James. Some believe the meme stock leader, AKA Keith Gill, was referring to Unity Software, whose stock soared 10% in premarket, while others think he’s back touting his original favorite GameStop, whose shares also caught a bid in premarket.

Meanwhile, semiconductor stocks — 2024’s big winners — helped lead the market again after the artificial intelligence trade lost some steam at the end of last year. Broadcom jumped 2% Thursday, while Nvidia gained 1.6%.

What’s more, golf stock Topgolf Callaway Brands jumped 8.5% on the back of an upgrade at Jefferies to buy from hold. The investment bank said shares of the golf equipment maker looked oversold and raised its price target to 65% above where the stock closed the year.

With a pickup in market speculation, broad stock futures were on the rise to kick off 2025. Dow futures advanced as much as 300 points. S&P 500 futures added 0.8%, and Nasdaq-100 futures rose 1%.

Thursday’s dramatic moves resembled the initial rallies on the back of Donald Trump’s election victory in November, as investors bet his pro-business policies would drive companies and the economy to strong growth. Those gains slowed toward the end of 2024 as concern grew that the president-elect’s protectionist policies could stir inflation or disrupt chains, and as the Federal Reserve signaled fewer interest rate cuts in 2025.

“Many investors assume that the incoming administration’s push for deregulation will unleash ‘animal spirits,'” Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said in a recent note to clients. “But what if it only accelerates the concentration of monopoly power in the hands of a few, diluting the efficacy of broad economic measures and leaving behind even larger swaths of the populace?”