Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reduces stake in US banks

In a remarkable move, Warren Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway has once again sold shares in the US bank Bank of America and now holds less than 10% of the financial giant's stock. This week, the company parted with 9.5 million shares worth $382.4 million, according to a recent regulatory report. Investors interested in Berkshire's continued course with Bank of America will have to wait for the company's quarterly reports to find out if more shares have been offloaded. As early as July, Berkshire began to reduce its holdings by selling 33.9 million shares worth around $1.48 billion. Up to that point, the company had earned more than $10 billion through investments. However, Bank of America is not the only company Buffett has recently parted with. Earlier this year, Berkshire halved its stake in tech heavyweight Apple. At the annual meeting in May, Buffett stated that sales transactions were sensible for tax considerations, especially in light of potential increases in capital gains tax in the US. Buffett began his engagement with Bank of America in 2011 with a $5 billion investment in preferred stock. The bank and its competitor Citigroup will report results next week, with investors paying particular attention to the effects of rising deposit costs and sluggish credit demand.