Buffett's Berkshire offloads Bank of America shares again; total sales near $7 bln

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N has trimmed its stake in Bank of America once again, making the total sales since mid-July nearly $7 billion.

The conglomerate, run by one of the world's most revered investors, disclosed late on Thursday it sold 18.7 million shares of the second-largest US bank between Sept. 3 and Sept. 5 to rake in roughly $760 million.

Berkshire continues to be BofA's biggest shareholder with a stake of about 11.1 per cent, according to LSEG data. Per regulatory requirements, Berkshire Hathaway has to keep reporting sales regularly until its holding falls below 10 per cent.

Buffett started investing in the bank in 2011, when Berkshire bought $5 billion of preferred stock. That purchase signaled his confidence in CEO Brian Moynihan's ability to restore the lender to health following the 2008 financial crisis.

Shares of Bank of America were last down 1 per cent in premarket trading. The stock is up around 18 per cent this year, compared with a near 21 per cent gain in the S&P 500 Banks Index, which tracks large-cap banks.