Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has taken another bite out of his huge holdings of Apple Inc. shares.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company announced its third-quarter results on Saturday, reporting a $69.9 billion stake in Apple Inc. That means Berkshire reduced its holdings in the company at the start of the third quarter by about 25% of the 400 million Apple shares it had received.

Berkshire held just over 900 million Apple shares at the end of last year. Even with this sale, Apple remains Berkshire's largest stock holding.

The selloff isn't necessarily a sign that Berkshire has lost faith in Apple, maker of the new iPhone 16. Just in May, Chairman and CEO Buffett said at his annual meeting that Apple was “an even better company.” than two of his other major holdings, American Express and his beloved Coca-Cola.

At that meeting, the vaunted investment guru reportedly hinted at a tax reason for cutting Apple's stake. It also comes ahead of the potential upheaval of the 2024 election and a potentially changing regulatory environment under the next administration.

Apple shares are up 16% this year and are trading near records.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Chris Bloomstran, president and chief investment officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group, as saying he expects Berkshire's Apple stock sales in the third quarter.

Bloomstran said Apple stock was trading “at a price at which Warren concluded that the economic situation did not merit as large a position as before,” Bloomstran said.

Berkshire's cash pile grew to a record $325.2 billion (including equivalents) at the end of September, according to the company's financial reports. The money frees Berkshire to explore other acquisitions. Berkshire's market value topped $1 trillion earlier this year, but has recently been below that level.

Berkshire also reduced its Bank of America position in the third quarter, and the WSJ said it continued to do so in October. Because Berkshire owned more than 10% of the bank's shares, it was required to report transactions quickly. However, the value is now below that standard and further sales of the bank's shares may not be announced until the Form 13F is filed in February.

The holding company owns and operates companies such as insurer Geico, BNSF Railway and sportswear manufacturer Brooks Running.

Berkshire posted a third-quarter net income of $26.3 billion, or $18,272 in Class A shares. That's an increase from the same period last year, when the company reported a net loss of $12.8 billion, or reported $8,824 per share.

But operating profit, which excludes some investment results, fell to $10.1 billion from $10.8 billion a year earlier. This was due to weaker insurance results impacted by estimated losses from Hurricane Helene. Berkshire also said fourth-quarter earnings will reflect losses from Hurricane Milton, which could be between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion before taxes.

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