Buffett sells a third of stake in IBM

• Warren Buffett said he has sold about one- t hird of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’ s big stake in IBM Corp., CNBC reported on Thursday, reducing a bet by the famed investor that surprised many and which so far has yet to prove successful.

I BM’s s t ock t ouched US$ 180 on Feb. 14 and reached a high of US$182.78 during Feb. 16 trading. It closed at US$155.05 Friday in New York.

“I don’t value IBM the same way that I did six years ago when I started buying,” Buffet told The Associated Press Friday,

But Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway, which kicks off its annual meeting Saturday, could still buy IBM shares.

Buffett owned about 81 million shares of IBM at the end of 2016 and sold about a third in the first and second quarters of 2017, CNBC reported, citing Buffett.

The IBM investment was initially viewed as a surprise, given Berkshire’s longstanding underweighting in the technology sector and Buffett’s resistance to investing in businesses he considered more difficult to understand.

The IBM stake had grown to be one of Berkshire’s largest investments, along with such companies as American Express, Coca- Cola, Wells Fargo, and more recently Apple and Kraft Heinz.

Buffett has long been willing to sell stock investments, as opposed to entire businesses, when they do not pan out or he finds something better.

“IBM is a big strong company, but they’ve got big strong competitors, too,” he said.

Berkshire still owns over 50 million shares of IBM and Buffett said he has stopped selling.