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recently, the news that buffett's deputy reduced his holdings in berkshire shares has caused heated discussions in the capital market!

us securities tradingmemberaccording to documents disclosed by the securities and exchange commission (sec), one of buffett’s main deputies, berkshirevice chairman, in charge of insurance businesson september 9, ajit jain sold 200 shares of berkshire class a stock at a price of approximately $695,400 per share, cashing in approximately $139 million (equivalent to approximately rmb 990 million).the shares sold this time account for 55% of ajit jain's total shares in berkshire.

after the sales, jain directly owns 61 berkshire class a shares, a family trust he and his spouse set up for their descendants owns 55 shares, and his nonprofit jain foundation owns 50 shares.

this is also the largest sale by jain since he joined berkshire in 1986. at present, it is not clear why he sold the shares, but he did take advantage of berkshire's recent high stock price.

according to china fund news,ajit jain, 73, is one of the main deputies of warren buffett, the "stock god". he has been with buffett for 38 years since he joined berkshire in 1986.

ajit was born in india in 1951 and graduated from the indian institute of technology in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. after graduating from university, ajit joined ibm india's data processing department as a salesperson. in 1978, ajit moved to the united states and obtained a master's degree in business administration from harvard university. he then joined the well-known consulting firm mckinsey.

in 1986, he officially resigned from mckinsey and followed buffett. at that time, berkshire hathaway group was a textile company and no one had experience in insurance business. ajit led the team from scratch, berkshire successfully entered the reinsurance industry, and completed the transformation of the auto insurance company geico, turning berkshire into an insurance empire.

in 2018, ajit was named vice chairman of berkshire's insurance operations and was appointed to berkshire's board of directors.

this sale is also ajit's largest sale since he joined berkshire in 1986. after this sale, ajit will directly hold 61 berkshire class a shares, and the family trust fund he and his spouse set up for their descendants will hold 55 shares. in addition, his non-profit company jain foundation also holds 50 shares.

by the end of august, berkshire's stock price exceeded $700,000, with a market value of $1 trillion. jain's selling came five days after berkshire's stock price exceeded $727,000 and less than two weeks after its market value exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

“this seems to suggest that jain believes berkshire’s valuation has reached its highest level,” said david kass, a finance professor at the university of maryland’s robert h. smith school of business.

this is also consistent with berkshire's recent significant slowdown in stock repurchase activity. berkshire repurchased only $345 million worth of shares in the second quarter, far lower than the $2 billion repurchased in the previous two quarters.

according to the previously disclosed financial report, berkshire sold 49.4% of its shares in apple in the second quarter, and the number of shares held dropped from 789 million shares at the end of the first quarter to about 400 million shares at the end of the second quarter. at the end of the second quarter, berkshire's cash reserves reached $276.9 billion, a new high, while at the end of the first quarter it was $189 billion. some analysts pointed out that the huge amount of cash held by berkshire may indicate buffett's concerns about the overall us economy and market.

it is worth noting that berkshire's stock selling behavior is still ongoing. on september 10, local time, a regulatory document showed that buffett's berkshire sold a total of 5.797 million shares of bank of america on september 6, september 9, and september 10, with a total value of approximately us$229 million. since mid-july, berkshire has sold a total of 174.7 million shares of bank of america, cashing in approximately us$7.19 billion. currently, berkshire is still the largest shareholder of bank of america, holding 858 million shares, accounting for 11.1% of the shares.

warren buffett's berkshire hathaway has performed well over the past year, with an annualized return of 32%, far outperforming the s&p 500. on august 28, it became the first non-tech u.s. company to have a market value of more than $1 trillion. however, buffett's recent moves to reduce his holdings in apple and bank of america have raised concerns about his long-term investment strategy. buffett has invested in bank of america since 2011 and has expressed confidence in the bank's recovery after the financial crisis. nevertheless, the recent reduction in stock holdings seems to be contrary to his past long-term holding strategy.

according to buffett's habit, when he starts selling a stock, he will eventually sell it off. in recent years, berkshire has sold off the stocks of several banks, including u.s. bancorp, wells fargo, and bank of new york mellon.

according to the securities times, market analyst and thestreetpro columnist doug cass expressed concerns about buffett's stock selling strategy, especially the reduction of apple and bank of america stocks, which are considered "permanent holdings". he pointed out that buffett's substantial reduction of apple shares in the second quarter of this year, selling almost half of his holdings, may be an important statement to the market, showing that his view of the market may have changed. in addition, cass also believes that buffett's views on the prospects of the us and global economies may be more pessimistic than he has publicly expressed.

in the secondary market,since hitting a high of $727,000 per share on september 4, berkshire's stock price has been falling for several consecutive days.as of the latest close, berkshire class a shares were trading at $671,700 per share. the company's latest market value is $965.1 billion.

disclaimer:the content and data of this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. please verify before use.you are responsible for any risks incurred by acting on this information.

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