According to a regulatory document released on Monday evening, investment giant Berkshire Hathaway under Warren Buffett has reduced its stake in printer and personal computer manufacturer HP to 5.2%.
Berkshire had previously experienced 9 consecutive days of selling HP stocks from mid September to early October, reducing its stake in the latter to around 10%.
Affected by the news of reducing holdings, HP's stock price fell more than 1% in post market trading on Monday. During regular trading hours, the stock rose 3.09% to $30.37.
Berkshire currently holds 51.5 million shares of HP stock, valued at approximately $1.6 billion based on Monday's closing price of $30.37. FactSet data shows that Berkshire remains the third largest institutional shareholder of HP, after BlackRock and Vanguard Group.
Or clear all HP shares held
Berkshire initially purchased HP stock in April 2022. However, this bet did not bring any returns, and HP's stock price is still below the level when Berkshire first bought it. HP's stock price has risen by 13% so far this year, but its performance is far inferior to the Nasdaq Composite Index, which has risen by nearly 38%.
Analysts speculate that the sluggish personal computer market may be the main reason why the stock god, even if cutting meat, wants to reduce his holdings in HP at the moment.
HP is still struggling with the sluggish personal computer market that has been going on for over a year. The quarterly report released by the company last month showed that due to the failure of the PC market growth rate to meet expectations, the fourth quarter sales performance was poor, and the company's revenue decreased by 6.5% year-on-year to $13.8 billion.
In addition, HP's profit guidance for the first quarter of next year was lower than Wall Street's expectations. However, the company maintains its annual profit expectations unchanged.
Many Buffett observers predict that the intention of this "Omaha prophet" is to liquidate his stake in HP. This 93 year old investment idol sees stock holdings as part of the company, so once he starts selling, he usually clears his position.
"We won't just cut positions. This is not our way of dealing with problems, just like buying 100% of a company's shares," Buffett once said.