For the second time in as many months, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has cut its stake in Moody’s Corp, according to Dow Jones. Buffett’s latest reduction of 794,388 shares came in multiple sales conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to an SEC filing. Buffett sold the shares at prices ranging from $26.30 to $27.74. He has previously cut his Moody’s stake by 8 million shares in mid-July, reducing his stake to about 40 million shares and said at the time that he might decide to sell more shares. Buffett has weathered criticism in the past year for his stake in Moody’s, which owns Moody’s Investors Service, one of the ratings agencies that has been criticized for the top grades it issued to mortgage-backed securities that later underperformed. Moody’s has been hit in part by the drop in new debt issues requiring ratings. Shares of Moody’s were down 7.5 per cent in pre-market trading at $24.15.
Berkshire Hathaway Sells 794,388 Moody’s Shares
Buffett has weathered criticism in the past year for his stake in Moody’s, which owns Moody’s Investors Service, one of the ratings agencies that has been criticized for the top grades it issued to mortgage-backed securities that later underperformed.
September 4, 2009