Did Buffett Sell Apple and Bank of America too Early?

• (0:30) - How Do You Know When To Sell Your Investments?
• (4:10) - Breaking Down Warren Buffett's Recent Stock Moves
• (12:00) - Should You Consider Selling These Stocks For Profit
• (24:20) - Episode Roundup: AAPL, BAC, VRT, URI, HLT
• [email protected]

Welcome to Episode #419 of the Value Investor Podcast.

Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.

Barron’s recently had an article discussing whether Warren Buffett sold shares of Apple AAPL from the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio too soon. He first started selling Apple in the fourth quarter of 2023 and sold throughout 2024. 

But shares of Apple recently hit new all-time highs. Even though Buffett did not sell his entire Apple position, he certainly left some money on the table. 

It was a similar story with Bank of America BAC, but Buffett didn’t start selling Bank of America until mid-2024 and continued into 2025. 

Over the last year, Bank of America shares have gained 22%. 

Berkshire Hathaway may not have it’s massive Apple position anymore, and it now owns less than a 10% position in Bank of America, but it still has a position in both. It also has $350 billion in cash to deploy at any time. 

When Do You Sell a Winning Stock? 

1. Is the business still performing up to expectations?

2. Have you reached your investing goal?

Have a plan. It helps investors to feel a sense of control when the stock market may be volatile or uncertain. 

3 Stocks Near Their All-Time Highs

1. Vertiv Holdings Co. VRT

Vertiv is an AI infrastructure company that is in partnership with NVIDIA on the build out of the data centers. Shares of Vertiv recently hit new all-time highs and are up 872% in the last 5 years. 

But valuations are stretched even though Vertiv recently beat and raised. It’s trading with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 44. 

Should investors be cashing in Vertiv? 

2. United Rentals, Inc. URI

United Rentals is the largest equipment rental company in the world. Shares of United Rentals recently traded near their all-time highs. It’s up 385.7% over the last 5 years.

But United Rentals recently missed on earnings. It is only expected to grow earnings by 1.5% this year. Additionally, the stock is not cheap, with a forward P/E of 22.5. 

Should investors be cashing in United Rentals?

3. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. HLT

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the hospitality company with hotels around the world, recently beat again on earnings. Hilton has beat every quarter for the last 4 years. That’s an impressive earnings surprise streak. 

Shares of Hilton are near 5-year highs and are up 182.9% during that period. It’s not cheap, however. Hilton has a forward P/E of 34.7. A P/E over 30 is considered to be an expensive stock. 

Should investors be cashing in Hilton? 

What Else Should You Know About When to Sell a Winning Stock?

Tune into this week’s podcast to find out.  

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of VRT in Zacks Value Investor and her own personal portfolio.]

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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