Warren Buffett’s Berkshire trims Bank of America stake for the first time since 2019

It marked the first time since the fourth quarter of 2019 that the Omaha-based conglomerate has reduced the stake. Still, Bank of America remains Berkshire’s second largest equity position after Apple, holding 999 million shares with a market value of almost $43 billion. Meanwhile, Berkshire is still Bank of America’s largest shareholder with a 10.8% stake.

Berkshire could be taking some profits as Bank of America has rallied 27.4% so far this year to its highest levels since March 2022. In the first quarter, Buffett trimmed Berkshire’s Apple holding by 13% for tax reasons following sizable gains.

Shares of Bank of America dipped slightly on Monday following the news.

Bathtub idea

The Oracle of Omaha’s purchase of Bank of America has become one of the most endearing Wall Street tales. In 2011, the legendary investor bought $5 billion worth of the bank’s preferred stock and warrants to shore up confidence in the lender as it grappled with losses related to subprime mortgages in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Buffett later revealed that he got the idea while taking a bath in his tub.

“Incidentally, that BofA purchase, it literally was true that I was sitting in the bathtub when I got the idea of checking with … BofA, whether they’d be interested in that preferred,” he said at Berkshire’s annual meeting in 2017, when he first converted the warrants and added the bank stock to his portfolio.

The 93-year-old investor said he was attracted to CEO Brian Moynihan’s leadership and the profit-generating abilities of the franchise.

Moynihan later recalled that Buffett initially tried to reach him through Bank of America’s public phone line, but got rejected by the call center. Despite the snafu, the deal still came together within hours, he said.