Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway
has reduced its stake in HP Inc., the maker of printers and personal computers, by 47% to 5.2% in the past two months, according to a Form13-G filing late Monday.
In the filing, Berkshire said it held 51.5 million shares of HP on Nov. 30, down from 97.9 million shares, or 9.9%, on Oct. 3, two days before the date of its most recent prior filing.
The Berkshire stake is now worth about $1.6 billion. HP shares were up 3% at $30.37 Monday.
Berkshire had been selling HP shares during September and early October after accumulating a roughly 12% interest in the company in 2022. Berkshire had to make filings within two business days of its sales during that period because it held more than 10% of HP stock.
When Berkshire dropped below 10% in early October, that two-day filing requirement ended. Berkshire needed to make the 13-G filing because its stake in HP fell by five percentage points from its most recent 13-G filing, which showed that it owned 11.4% on April 30. The filing needed to be made within 10 days from the end of the month during which it hit the five-percentage drop in ownership, which in this case was Nov. 30.
When Berkshire sharply reduces a once sizable position in a company’s equity, it often ends up eliminating the holding entirely. That has been the case with positions in
U.S. Bancorp
and other stocks. If Berkshire follows the same pattern, that could mean more HP sales in the coming weeks.
HP shares have shrugged off the Berkshire sales to date. The stock is up about 15% in the past two months.
Write to Andrew Bary at [email protected]
Read the full article here
