CNBC: Berkshire Hathaway's Stake in Moody's Falls Below 15%

Published: Thursday, 10 Dec 2009 | 9:36 PM ET

By: Alex Crippen
Executive Producer

Berkshire Hathaway stake in Moody's has dropped just below 15 percent, after Warren Buffett's company sold more than 2.7 million shares over two days, raising almost $68 million.

Berkshire held over 20 percent of Moody's shares six months ago.

With 35,357,393 shares remaining, however, Berkshire is still the credit rating agency's largest shareholder by far.

A filing with the SEC shows Berkshire sold 2,004,946 shares at a weighted average price of $25.0381 through multiple transactions on Monday, December 7. Another 704,346 shares were sold at an average price of $24.8074 on Tuesday, December 8.

They are the first reported sales since just over 1.1 million shares were sold in late October.

Berkshire has sold 12.6 million shares, raising a total of $335.6 million since it started reducing its Moody's position in late July. All the sales have been made at times when the stock was trading in the mid-to-high $20s. Average selling price: $26.55. Current price: [MCO 25.15 0.20 (+0.8%) ]

Berkshire's Moody's Sales

Date	Shares Sold	Price/Share	Total Price
July 20	1,817,000	$28.7269	$52,196,777
July 21	3,915,100	$26.9188	$105,389,794
July 22	2,254,200	$26.6425	$60,057,524
September 1	366,761	$26.8104	$9,833,009
September 1	421,127	$27.5988	$11,622,600
September 2	6,500	$26.3246	$171,110
October 28	1,133,027	$24.8637	$28,171,243
October 29	19,600	$25.2728	$495,347
December 7	2,004,946	$25.0381	$50,200,038
December 8	704,346	$24.8074	$17,472,993
TOTAL	12,642,607	$26.55	$335,610,435

Berkshire stock prices:

Class A: [BRK.A 98399.00 -101.00 (-0.1%) ]

Class B: [BRK.B 3275.99 -8.01 (-0.24%) ]

Topics:Warren Buffett

Companies:Moody's Corp | Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

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