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Warren Buffett called Apple “a better business than any we own” at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting last May. The stock is the largest holding in Berkshire’s portfolio. However, Buffett decided to sell nearly $2 billion worth of Apple shares at the end of last year. Berkshire Hathaway held 10 million fewer Apple shares at the year’s end than in September, according to a filing.

Buffett sold a lot of stocks in 2023, with $32.8 billion sold through the first nine months, and bought just $9.1 billion. The decision to sell some of his Apple stock was likely due to tax and other financial reasons. The sale of the two losing positions resulted in significant losses that can count against gains in Berkshire’s portfolio. Buffett looked to take gains on some of his winning positions, including Apple, to offset these losses and minimize tax obligations.

Despite selling shares of Apple at the end of the year, Buffett has done so before. He sold shares at the end of 2018, 2019, and 2020, purely for tax purposes. Buffett admitted that the decision to sell Apple shares was “probably a mistake” and admitted to “owning up to a mistake.” However, the sale of Apple shares isn’t as significant this time.

Apple shares currently offer good value, trading at a relatively low price-earnings ratio compared to expected earnings, and have a generous capital return program with substantial free cash flow. This highlights that there are many reasons an investment manager might sell a stock, and it doesn’t necessarily mean they no longer like the company or think it’s not a good value.

Before buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider that it’s not one of the 10 best stocks identified by the Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team. Berkshire Hathaway didn’t make the cut, and the 10 stocks that did could potentially produce high returns. This service has more than tripled the return of the S&P 500 since 2002. The author has positions in Apple and the Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and HP.



Read more: Warren Buffett Sold Nearly $2 Billion Worth of Apple Last Quarter. Here’s Why.