Berkshire Hathaway Lowers Stake In Wells Fargo, A Top 10 Holding

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) has nearly halved its stake in Wells Fargo & Company WFC.

What Happened: Berkshire Hathaway has sold over 100 million shares of Wells Fargo, according to Business Insider.

This represents a 43% drop in the Wells Fargo stake owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which now owns 136 million shares.

Why It’s Important: Berkshire's stake in Wells Fargo was 7.8% earlier this year, with over 325 million shares held.

The company has slashed its stake in Wells Fargo twice in 2020. Berkshire Hathaway, once the largest shareholder in Wells Fargo, now owns 3.3% of the bank. 

At the end of the second quarter, Wells Fargo was the seventh-highest valued Berkshire stock holding, worth $6.1 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway has been selling stakes in financial stocks throughout 2020. A position in Goldman Sachs Group GS was eliminated. Stakes in JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Bank of New York Mellon BK, PNC Financial Services Group PNC, U.S. Bancorp USB, Visa Inc. V and Mastercard Incorporated MA were reduced this year. 

What’s Next: Berkshire Hathaway recently bet big on Japanese stocks, buying 5% stakes in five of the largest companies in the country.

WFC Price Action: Shares of Wells Fargo were down 3.09% at $24.02 at last check Tuesday; the stock is down more than 50% in 2020. 

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