Berkshire HathawayThe company's monstrous cash pile topped $300 billion in the third quarter as Warren Buffett continued his stock selling spree and held back from share buybacks.

The Omaha-based conglomerate's liquidity rose to a record $325.2 billion by the end of September, compared with $276.9 billion in the second quarter, according to its earnings report released Saturday morning.

The pile of money continued to grow as the Oracle of Omaha sold significant portions of its largest stock holdings, viz Apple And Bank of America. Berkshire sold about a quarter of its gigantic Apple stake in the third quarter, marking the fourth quarter in a row that it has reduced its bet. Meanwhile, Berkshire has raised more than $10 billion since mid-July from divesting its long-standing investment in Bank of America.

Overall, the 94-year-old investor remained in a selling mood as Berkshire sold $36.1 billion worth of shares in the third quarter.

No buybacks

Berkshire did not repurchase any company shares during the period amid the sell-off. Buyback activity had already slowed earlier in the year as Berkshire's shares outperformed the broader market and hit record highs.

The conglomerate repurchased just $345 million of its own shares in the second quarter, significantly less than the $2 billion it repurchased in each of the previous two quarters. The company says it will repurchase shares if Chairman Buffett “believes the repurchase price is below Berkshire's conservatively determined intrinsic value.”

Berkshire's Class A shares have gained 25% this year, outpacing the S&P 500's year-to-date return of 20.1%. The conglomerate surpassed a market capitalization milestone of $1 trillion in the third quarter, hitting an all-time high.

In the third quarter, Berkshire's operating profits, which include profits from the conglomerate's wholly-owned businesses, totaled $10.1 billion, down about 6% from a year ago due to weak insurance underwriting. According to the FactSet consensus, the number was slightly below analysts' estimates.

Buffett's conservative stance comes at a time when the stock market has risen this year in anticipation of a smooth landing for the economy as inflation falls and the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates. However, interest rates haven't quite held up lately, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising back above 4% last month.

Big-name investors like Paul Tudor Jones are concerned about the ballooning budget deficit and the fact that neither of the two presidential candidates facing off in next week's election will cut spending to address the problem. Buffett has indicated this year that he sold some stock holdings on the assumption that tax rates on capital gains would eventually have to be raised to offset the growing deficit.