Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Paid $99.49 per Share for Apple Stake

Apple Nanjing

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B), the multinational conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett, acquired its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for $99.49 per share based on its regulatory filing.

Berkshire announced its investment in Apple in May, which was perceived good news for the iPhone maker. Based on the filing, the multinational conglomerate acquired 9.81 million shares of Apple worth approximately $976 million.

Buffett’s investment managers initiated the stake in Apple

Berkshire accumulated its stake in the iPhone maker until March 14. The filing showed that Buffett’s investment managers, Todd Combs and ted Weschler initiated the stake

Bloomberg noted that Buffett’s investment manages seemed to have deviated from his strategy of avoiding technology stock. However, Combs and Weschler still follow Buffett when it comes to investing in stocks at prices when there is a “margin of safety.”

Berkshire acquired a stake in Apple when its shares declined, which was primarily caused by the weakening of iPhone sales. It is the 56th largest shareholder of Apple as of May.

Some market observers commented that its investment in the tech giant makes sense given the fact that its stock is trading at a multiple of 10.5 times its earnings per share, cheaper than its peers trading at a multiple of 16.4 times.

Apple stock tumbles on patent infringement violation in China

The shares of Apple are declining today due to the report that it violated the design patents of a Chinese device manufacturer.  There is a possibility that Chinese regulators would stop the sales of its latest iPhones in Beijing.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Office found that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringed the patent rights of Shenzhen Baili’s 100c phone because of its similarities. The iPhone maker is appealing the ruling and will continue to sell its devices in Beijing during the process.

In a statement, the tech giant’s spokesperson Kristin Huguet said, “IPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China. We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court.”

The stock price of Apple dropped 1.71% to $95.88 per share around 1:20 in the afternoon in New York today.