Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- Ajit Jain, Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance chief, sold over half his holdings, reducing his stake to 61 shares after selling 200 Class A shares for approximately $139 million.
- This sale marks the largest decrease in Jain’s portfolio since joining Berkshire in 1986.
- Analysts suggest Jain’s actions indicate he views Berkshire’s stock as fully valued, coinciding with a recent surge in its market capitalization.
Ajit Jain, the insurance chief and senior executive of Warren Buffett, has sold over half of his holdings in Berkshire Hathaway, according to a recent regulatory filing.
On Monday, the 73-year-old vice chairman of insurance operations sold 200 shares of Berkshire Class A shares at an average price of $695,418 per share, generating approximately $139 million. This resulted in him owning only 61 shares, while his nonprofit corporation, the Jain Foundation, possesses 50 shares, and family trusts established by him and his spouse for the benefit of his descendants control 55 shares. The transaction on Monday accounted for 55% of his total Berkshire stake.
The transaction represented the most substantial decrease in Jain’s portfolio since his affiliation with Berkshire in 1986. Jain’s motivation for his sales remains obscure; however, he did capitalize on the recent surge in Berkshire’s stock price. At the conclusion of August, the conglomerate’s market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion as it traded above $700,000.
“This seems to be a signal that Ajit perceives Berkshire as being fully valued,” stated David Kass, a finance professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland..
Source : CNBC News
