Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) shares fell over 5.5% in pre-market trading on Thursday after it was revealed Warren Buffett had sold his stake in the company over the fourth quarter.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A), Buffett’s investment company, reduced its stake in Paramount from 93.7 million shares to 63.3 million shares, around a US$400 million reduction.
Paramount is currently considering a sale of the company after it was revealed Byron Allen, the media mogul and former comedian, had bid US$14 billion for the conglomerate.
Going forward, Buffett is looking to completely exit his position in Paramount, according to reports.
Buffett also exited positions in StoneCo, the Brazilian fintech company, DR Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI), the US homebuilder, and insurance group Markel Corp, a regulatory filing revealed.
Berkshire Hathaway upped holdings in Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) by around US$146 million to 40.2 million shares from 9.68 million.
A stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE:OXY) was increased to 243.7 million shares from 224.1M and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX, ETR:CHV) shareholdings rose by around 16 million shares, or US$2.4 billion, to 126.1 million shares.
Earlier this week, Paramount said it would be axing around 800 jobs or around 3% of its workforce as it sets sights on returning to profit growth.
Reports of the job cuts came just days after Paramount-owned CBS and Nickelodeon hosted a record-breaking Super Bowl, with companies reported to have spent US$7 million for 30-second advertising slots.