Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway continued to sell Apple shares in the third quarter.According to the company's third-quarter 2024 financial report, the company's holdings in Apple shares decreased from approximately 400 million shares in the second quarter to approximately 314 million shares, with a reduction of 25%.

For years, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has been one of the largest shareholders of Apple's common stock.As of the end of 2023, Berkshire held 907.6 million Apple shares, accounting for 5.7% of Apple's total outstanding shares.At the time, the shares were estimated to be worth $174.3 billion.

But since the beginning of this year, Berkshire has been selling off its Apple stock holdings.As of September 30, the company had reduced its holdings of Apple shares by two-thirds.

Since Berkshire's shareholding in Apple does not exceed 10%, according to relevant SEC regulations, the company is not obligated to disclose its trading actions in a timely manner.The outside world can only know about the changes in Berkshire's holdings in its quarterly disclosures.

In theory, Berkshire has sold a lot, and Apple's share price should fall because there are more shares outstanding on the market.But the reality is that Apple rose 7.5% in the third quarter and is up 20% this year.It can be seen from this that Berkshire is very cautious when selling Apple.

Since Apple shares are still rising, why is Buffett selling?

At Berkshire's annual meeting in May this year, Buffett himself said that tax issues were one of the factors.Berkshire's financial report shows its underlying costs (the price at which stocks are purchased) reached $19.1 billion.

Another reason may be that Buffett believes the risk of Apple stocks is a bit too high right now.Currently, Apple's P/E ratio is about 26.7 times expected earnings, compared with the S & P 500 index's P/E ratio is about 22 times expected earnings.And in the short term, Apple's current market value of over US$3 trillion may have reached a limit.Therefore, it is normal for Buffett to choose profit-taking.

In addition, due to uncertainties in the U.S. election and the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut, the current market outlook is unclear, and Buffett's investment strategy has also become more conservative.Since the beginning of this year, Berkshire's cash reserves have risen sharply.At the end of the third quarter, Berkshire had more than $320 billion in pre-tax cash, accounting for one-third of its total net assets, a record high.