Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:) was aggressively reducing its exposure to stocks in the second quarter, new documents showed.
The company's financial statements showed a net $75.5 billion worth of shares were sold in the three months through June.
Buffett was seen selling nearly half of his stake in Apple (NASDAQ:) during the second quarter, a move that contributed to a surge in Berkshire's cash reserves to $276.94 billion.
Berkshire reported second-quarter operating profit of $11.6 billion.
Recent sales include a systematic reduction of Berkshire's investment in Bank of America, previously the firm's second-largest holding after Apple. Berkshire reduced its stake in the bank to 12.15%, which was valued at more than $35 billion at the close of trading on Friday.
The sell-off came after Bank of America shares rose 75% from a low in late October to the point where Berkshire initiated the sale in July.
At Berkshire's annual meeting in May, Buffett highlighted the difficulty of investing the company's cash, emphasizing his preference for investments with minimal risk and high return potential.
Berkshire's quarterly filing also revealed that after reducing its investment in Apple by 13% in the first quarter, the company proceeded to sell about 49% of its remaining Apple shares in the second quarter.
The news that Buffett sold $75.5 billion worth of stock in the second quarter comes at a delicate time for the US stock market, which saw a sell-off on Friday after a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
Investors are increasingly concerned that economic indicators suggest a faster-than-expected slowdown in the US economy. Following the latest round of economic data, traders are increasingly viewing bad news as bad news.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) now finds itself in a difficult position. Several major Wall Street banks, including Citi and JPMorgan, are calling for the Fed to implement interest rate cuts at the upcoming meetings in September and November.
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