Warren Buffett sold off $800 million worth of Apple stock last quarter

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What you need to know

  • Warren Buffett has sold $800 million in Apple stock.
  • The sale of the stock happened over the course of Q1 2020.
  • Berkshire Hathaway continues to hold the largest share of Apple stock in the world.

Warren Buffett, billionaire investor and CEO of real estate company Berkshire Hathway, has sold over $800 million dollars worth of Apple stock over the last quarter, according to SEC filings published last Friday. Depending on when Berkshire Hathaway sold the 3.7 million shares of Apple stock over the last quarter, it earned the company anywhere between $806 million and $1.1 billion.

According to Business Insider, the transaction may appear to be a massive sell-off but is, in perspective, a small portion of the real estate mogul's portfolio with Apple. Berkshire Hathway continues to be the largest shareholder of Apple with a 5.4% stake in the company that is currently worth about $72 billion dollars.

The exact reason for the sale is currently unknown, but it is speculated that the company sold that shares to account for some of Berkshire's other investments last quarter, particularly their new investments in Kroger and Biogen.

Another potential reason is that Berkshire is trying to diversify its portfolio while Apple's shares are surging. The company's stock grew 85% in the last year to $325 a share, and Apple alone currently accounts for 30% of Berkshire's holdings.

Warren Buffett has been a longtime investor in Apple, so the latest sale shouldn't alarm anyone about his opinion as far as Apple goes as an investor. He continues to hold the largest position in the company and will most likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.