Berkshire sold a portion of its U.S. Bank stake, as well as shares of Taiwan Semi.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Berkshire Hathaway
slashed its stake in
Taiwan Semiconductor
and nearly eliminated what had been a large stake in
U.S. Bancorp
in the fourth quarter, according to filings late Tuesday.
Berkshire Hathaway (ticker BRK/A, BRK/B) reduced its interest in Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) to 8.3 million shares in the fourth quarter from 60 million shares in the third quarter. The stake in U.S. Bancorp (USB) fell to 6.7 million shares from 52.5 million shares, according to a13-F filing Tuesday.
The news of the cut in the Taiwan Semiconductor stake is depressing shares of the huge chip maker in after-hours trading. The stock is down 3.3% to 94.70 after gaining 1.9% to 97.96 during regular trading Tuesday.
The sharp reduction in the Taiwan Semiconductor stake came just a quarter after Berkshire built the position, which totaled $4.2 billion at the of the third quarter. Berkshire likely made a profit on the holding given that Taiwan Semiconductor gained about 10% in the fourth quarter to end the year at $74. But Berkshire has missed out on big gains in the stock so far this quarter.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
Credit: marketwatch.com