In 2017 Warren Buffet told CNBC that "I've never sold a share of Apple." Buffet began investing in Apple in 2016. The report further noted that after Jan. 1, 2016, and before Apple reported earnings on Jan. 31, Buffett's Berkshire added almost 76 million Apple shares to its holdings. Asked at the time why, he said, "Because I liked it." As of June 30, 2017, regulatory filings show Berkshire has amassed 130.2 million shares of Apple.
As life teaches us, all good things come to an end and Buffet's position of never selling an Apple share has officially ended. According to SEC filings published on Friday, Warren Buffet sold more than $800 million worth of Apple stock last quarter.
That might seem like a massive sale, but it's closer to a rounding error for the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO. Berkshire is Apple's biggest shareholder with a 5.4% stake worth $72 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
The so-called "Oracle of Omaha" balked at buying Apple shares when they were trading at $175 a year ago. "If it were cheaper, we'd be buying it," he said in a CNBC interview in February 2019. "We aren't buying it here."
The stock has skyrocketed more than 85% to $325 since then, boosting Apple's market capitalization to more than $1.4 trillion.
Lastly, Business Insider surmised that they may have wanted to cash out after Apple's stock surged by a third last quarter, from roughly $219 to $294. Depending on when they sold the 3.7 million Apple shares, they netted between $806 million and nearly $1.1 billion.