Berkshire Hathaway sold part of US Bancorp, a bank stock it has held since late 2007, a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. The group reportedly owned 52.5 million shares of US Bancorp as of October 31, about 3.5% of the bank’s total outstanding shares, filings show. This is down from 137.4 million shares, including 17.6 million held by subsidiary New England Asset Management, as of the end of the second quarter on June 30. Records show Berkshire has sold 84.9 million shares, now valued at $3.8 billion. . The sale was driven by shares of Berkshire falling below 5%, the filing states. The filing also shows that Buffett himself owns nearly 499,000 shares in his personal account. Buffett first bought 23.3 million shares of US Bancorp in the fourth quarter of 2007. Shares of US Bancorp are down about 20% this year, compared with a loss of about 17% for the S&P 500 index. Berkshire began unloading its bank shares this year, eliminating positions in JPMorgan, Goldman and Wells Fargo. The group still owned a sizable stake in Bank of New York Mellon at the end of the second quarter.
