Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway slashes stake in Wells Fargo

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Friday it had cut its Wells Fargo & Co stake to 3.3%, further reducing what had once been a $32 billion investment in the bank.

WARREN BUFFETT'S BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HAS ACQUIRED SLIGHTLY MORE THAN 5% OF THE SHARES IN FIVE LARGE JAPANESE COMPANIES

Berkshire said in a regulatory filing it owned about 137.6 million shares, worth $3.4 billion, of the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, down about 100 million from the end of June.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
BRK.A BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 605,500.00 -1,420.00 -0.23%
BRK.B BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 400.96 -1.14 -0.28%
WFC WELLS FARGO & CO. 59.80 -0.11 -0.18%

Buffett began investing in Wells Fargo in 1989, but has been reducing Berkshire's stake as the bank struggles to recover from a series of scandals over its treatment of customers, including the opening of accounts without their knowledge.

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Wells Fargo's ability to grow remains subject to a Federal Reserve limit. Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday lowered its rating outlook on the bank to "negative" from "stable", citing the bank's slower-than-expected ability to resolve governance and oversight issues from previous years.

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Berkshire still owns shares of several other banks, including Bank of America Corp, which became its largest common stock holding other than iPhone-maker Apple Inc,

Buffett's conglomerate also owns dozens of operating businesses including the BNSF railroad and Geico auto insurer.

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