What signal? Buffett, a "veteran" of 40 years, aggressively sells more than half of his Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US) shares.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure documents show that Ajit Jain, Warren Buffett's deputy and Vice Chairman in charge of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US), has sold more than half of the company's shares. The 73-year-old "veteran" sold 200 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock on Monday at an average price of $695,418 per share, totaling about $139 million. After this sale, Jain will only hold 61 shares, while a family trust fund set up for his descendants will hold 55 shares, and his non-profit organization Jain Foundation will hold 50 shares. The shares sold on Monday represent 55% of his total holdings in Berkshire Hathaway. This move marks Jain's largest sale since joining Berkshire in 1986. The specific reason for this move is not yet clear, but it is indeed taking advantage of Berkshire's recent high prices. As of the end of August, the conglomerate's stock price exceeded $700,000, with a market value of $1 trillion. David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, commented, "This seems to be a signal that Ajit believes Berkshire's valuation is sufficient." This is also consistent with Berkshire's significant slowdown in stock buyback activity. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Berkshire only repurchased $3.45 billion worth of stock in the second quarter, far below the $20 billion repurchase in the previous two quarters. Bill Stone, Chief Investment Officer of Glenview Trust Co. and Berkshire shareholder, said, "I think at best this is a signal that the stock is not cheap. A price more than 1.6 times book value may be close to Buffett's conservative estimate of intrinsic value. I do not expect Berkshire to buy back a lot of stock at this level, if any." Jain, who has played a critical role in Berkshire's unparalleled success for 40 years, not only led the company into the reinsurance industry but also recently guided its most important car insurance business, Geico, to return to profitability. In 2018, Jain was appointed Vice Chairman of Insurance and a member of the Berkshire board. Buffett also praised him in his 2017 annual letter: "Ajit has created hundreds of billions of dollars of value for Berkshire shareholders. If there were another Ajit, yours truly would be a trading security for him. Make the deal!" Before officially announcing that Greg Abel, Vice Chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway, would ultimately succeed the 94-year-old Buffett, there were rumors that Jain was a potential candidate to lead Berkshire. Buffett clarified that Jain "has never aspired to run Berkshire" and there is no competition between them.