Berkshire Hathaway Buys Back About $2 Billion in Early Fourth Quarter

Berkshire Hathaway repurchased about $2 billion of its shares in the first four weeks of the fourth quarter, extending an increase in buybacks as its equity sales exceeded purchases in the preceding quarter.

The company bought back $9.6 billion of its own shares in the third quarter, more than twice its second-quarter pace. The roughly $2 billion purchased afterward is separate from that quarterly total.

Berkshire was a net seller of other companies’ stocks during the third quarter. It purchased about $2.4 billion in equities and sold roughly $2.8 billion, a difference of about $400 million. Those portfolio transactions are distinct from Berkshire’s repurchases of its own shares.

Measured at cost, Berkshire’s “commercial, industrial, and other” equity holdings rose by $2.3 billion from the second quarter. Its “banks, insurance and finance” holdings declined by $400 million on the same basis.

The portfolio activity adds to Berkshire’s third-quarter operating results, which included $12.71 billion in operating profit.

A more detailed filing expected later in November is set to show Berkshire’s changes to individual stock holdings.