Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said late Wednesday it sold more than 7 million shares of Wells Fargo & Co. between April 10 and April 12, and it intended to file a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission later Wednesday to reflect that sale. Berkshire plans to sell nearly 2 million shares of Wells Fargo in the “near future,” the conglomerate said in a statement. The sales “are not being made because of investment or valuation considerations,” Berkshire said. “Rather they are solely motivated by the desire to return to a percentage ownership below the 10% notification threshold” required by a couple of regulations, it said. About a year ago, Wells Fargo’s share buybacks caused Berkshire’s ownership interest in the bank to exceed 10%, and the percentage interest would “slowly creep up” if Wells Fargo continued with the stock repurchase, Berkshire said. After several months of discussions with Federal Reserve representatives, Berkshire concluded Fed-required commitments to retain ownership of 10% or more of Wells Fargo’s outstanding common stock “would materially restrict our commercial activity with Wells Fargo,” and it would be simpler to keep ownership under 10%, the company said. Berkshire intends to reduce its ownership in Wells Fargo common stock below 10% within 60 trading days, it said. Wells Fargo shares were down 0.3% in late trading, while Berkshire’s were up less than 0.1%.
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