Billionaire Warren Buffett Sold 41% of Berkshire's Stake in Bank of America and Has Piled Into a Cheap Legal Monopoly in 3 of the Last 4 Quarters

Key Points

• Quarterly-filed Form 13Fs offer a way for investors to track the buying and selling activity of Wall Street's savviest money managers.

• Warren Buffett has disposed of more than 427 million shares of BofA stock since July 17, 2024 -- and profit-taking might explain only half the story.

• Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway's billionaire boss has added nearly 20 million shares of a historically inexpensive legal monopoly since Sept. 30, 2024.

• 10 stocks we like better than Sirius XM ›

For the better part of six decades, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett has been crushing Wall Street's benchmark index, the S&P 500, in the return column. As of midday on Sept. 26, he'd overseen a return for his company's Class A shares (BRK.A) that exceeds 6,080,000% on a cumulative basis over 60 years, which is about 137 times greater than the total return, including dividends, of the S&P 500 over the same timeline.

Delivering a nearly 20% annualized return has earned the Oracle of Omaha an extensive following. Some investors even choose to ride his coattails and mirror his trading activity. This can be done thanks to quarterly Form 13F filings and occasional Form 4 filings.

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A 13F is a required filing no later than 45 calendar days following the end to a quarter for institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management. It spills the beans on which stocks, exchange-traded funds, and select options Wall Street's savviest money managers purchased and sold in the latest quarter.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Meanwhile, Form 4 is a required filing for directors and executives of a public company, as well as beneficial owners who hold a 10% or greater stake in a company. Any time shares are sold or purchased by these individuals, Form 4 must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within two business days of the transaction.

Thanks to Berkshire Hathaway's 13Fs and Form 4s, we know its billionaire boss has been a persistent seller of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) stock over the last year. However, these filings also point to significant buying activity in a historically cheap legal monopoly in three of the last four quarters.

Warren Buffett has sent more than 427 million shares of Bank of America to the chopping block

There's not a sector that Warren Buffett understands better or has had more confidence investing in over the years than financials. He's keenly aware that banks and insurers are cyclical and will ebb-and-flow with the health of the U.S. and global economy. This is a good thing when you consider that periods of economic growth last disproportionately longer than recessions.

However, the Oracle of Omaha has been a decisive net seller of stocks for 11 straight quarters, to the aggregate tune of $177.4 billion. A meaningful chunk of this selling traces back to Bank of America, which is commonly known as "BofA."

Beginning July 17, 2024 (we know this precise date thanks to Form 4 filings), Buffett began green-lighting the sale of BofA stock and hasn't stopped. A position that peaked at north of 1.03 billion shares has been reduced 427,584,631 shares, or 41%, from July 17, 2024 to June 30, 2025.

One logical explanation behind this selling is simple profit-taking. Although Buffett preaches a long-term investing approach, he spent some time during Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in May 2024 discussing the advantages of locking in investment gains with the peak marginal corporate income tax rate being historically low. While he was discussing Apple in the context of locking in sizable gains, Bank of America is another holding where Berkshire is up big.

The worry for investors is that this selling might be fueled by more than just benign profit-taking.

For example, no money-center bank was a bigger beneficiary of the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-hiking cycle from March 2022 to July 2023 than BofA. But this pendulum swings in both directions, which means rate-easing cycles can disproportionately work against Bank of America's interest income-earning potential.

The silver lining on this front is that the central bank is taking a very methodical and telegraphed approach to its monetary policy moves, which is fantastic news for lenders and big banks like BofA. Nevertheless, being the most interest-sensitive of the big banks can bring promise or peril, depending on the Fed's stance on monetary policy.

The other potential issue is that Bank of America stock is no longer cheap. When Buffett initially invested in BofA preferred stock in August 2011, its common shares were valued at a 62% discount to its listed book value. As of this writing, BofA stock is valued at a 41% premium to book.

Image source: Sirius XM.

Berkshire's billionaire boss can't stop buying shares of this inexpensive legal monopoly

While selling has been commonplace for Warren Buffett for almost three years, there are a few stocks that have caught his fancy amid a historically pricey market. One of these companies happens to be a legal public monopoly: satellite-radio operator Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI).

Following the merger of Sirius XM common stock with multiple classes of Sirius XM tracking stock (Liberty Sirius XM) in September 2024, as well as its historic 1-for-10 reverse split, Berkshire Hathaway held 105,155,029 shares. Since Sept 30, 2024, Buffett has overseen the addition of:

• Q4 2024: 12,313,544 shares added
• Q1 2025: 2,308,119 shares added
• Q2 2025: no shares added
• Q3 2025: 5,030,425 shares added (124,807,117 total shares owned)

Even though Buffett's company won't report its 13F detailing third-quarter trading activity until mid-November, we know that more than 5 million shares of Sirius XM stock was purchased in late July and early August because of required Form 4 filings. With this purchase, Berkshire Hathaway's stake in America's legal satellite-radio monopoly grew to more than 37%!

The Oracle of Omaha has always been a huge fan of businesses with sustainable moats. Though Sirius XM still fights for listeners with terrestrial and online radio providers, it's the only holder of satellite radio licenses. This affords it a level of subscription pricing power that other radio providers often lack.

What might be even more of a selling point for Buffett is Sirius XM's revenue mix. Traditional radio companies generate almost all of their revenue from selling ads, which is a fantastic operating model during long periods of economic expansion, but can lead to lean times during short-lived recessions.

In comparison, Sirius XM brought in less than 20% of its net sales from advertising (via Pandora) through the first six months of 2025. The bulk of its revenue (about 77% of net sales) derives from subscriptions. People subscribing to its satellite-radio services are far less likely to cancel during periods of economic turbulence than businesses are to slash their marketing budgets. The end result is more consistent cash flow for Sirius XM in any economic climate.

Warren Buffett is also a fan of hearty capital-return programs -- and Sirius XM Holdings delivers. Its dividend yield is approaching 5%, or roughly four times higher than the yield of the benchmark S&P 500. The company repurchases its own stock from time to time, which can help boost earnings per share (EPS).

To tie things together, Sirius XM stock is historically cheap. Shares are valued at 7.4 times forecast EPS for 2026, which works out to a 43% discount to its average forward price-to-earnings multiple over the last five years.

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Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Sean Williams has positions in Bank of America and Sirius XM. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.