Berkshire Hathaway's CEO Greg Abel Sold $8.1 Billion in Stocks in Q1 ... a Sign He Sees Few Bargains. Did That Change in Q2?

Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly reports disclose how much the company spends on new stock investments and any proceeds collected via the sale of stocks from its equity portfolio.

The conglomerate’s sizable amount of idle cash resulting from all this net selling, however, has been and continues to miss out on marketwide bullishness, frustrating shareholders.

It's been one of the bigger narratives regarding Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) for a while now. That is, the conglomerate's been piling up more and more idle cash by selling more stocks than it's been buying for its equity portfolio. Through Q1 of this year, in fact, Berkshire's done so for 14 consecutive quarters.

It's a sign that, for a while now, CEO Greg Abel and his predecessor Warren Buffett have seen little worth owning at the price being asked. This, of course, has implications for all investors.

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There's a glimmer of hope on the horizon, though. During the company's second fiscal quarter ending in June, Berkshire finally bought more stock for its equity portfolio than it sold, suggesting there are bargains out there worth buying into.

Don't get too excited. Abel -- with board chairman Buffett's likely guidance -- isn't exactly plowing into every name he had his eye on. In Q2, the company only made net stock purchases of $19.8 billion, buying $23.5 billion of them, while only selling $3.7 billion of its equity holdings.

Data source: Berkshire Hathaway. Chart by author.see attached spreadsheet for source links