Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserves surpass $300 billion after Buffett increases stock sales and halts buybacks.

In the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway's monstrous cash pile surpassed $300 billion, with Warren Buffett continuing his stock-selling spree and refraining from repurchasing shares.

By the end of September, the Omaha-based conglomerate's cash reserves had reached a record $325.2 billion, an increase of $48.3 billion from the second quarter, as stated in its earnings report released on Saturday morning.

As the Oracle of Omaha sold significant portions of his biggest equity holdings, namely and , the mountain of cash kept growing. Berkshire dumped about a quarter of its gigantic Apple stake in the third quarter, making it the fourth consecutive quarter that it has downsized this bet. Meanwhile, since mid-July, Berkshire has reaped more than $10 billion from offloading its longtime Bank of America investment.

In the third quarter, Berkshire sold $36.1 billion worth of stock, with the 94-year-old investor continuing to be in a selling mood.

No buybacks

Berkshire refrained from repurchasing any company shares during the period, as its shares had already outperformed the broader market and hit record highs earlier in the year.

In the second quarter, the conglomerate bought back $345 million worth of its own stock, which is significantly lower than the $2 billion repurchased in each of the previous two quarters. The company states that it will buy back stock when Chairman Buffett determines that the repurchase price is below Berkshire's intrinsic value, conservatively determined.

Berkshire's Class A shares have surpassed the S&P 500's year-to-date return by 5.9%, reaching a $1 trillion market cap in the third quarter with an all-time high.

Berkshire's operating earnings for the third quarter, which include profits from the conglomerate's fully-owned businesses, were $10.1 billion, down about 6% from the previous year due to weak insurance underwriting. This figure was slightly below analysts' estimates, according to the FactSet consensus.

Buffett's conservative stance is in line with the stock market's upward trend this year, as investors anticipate a soft economic landing with declining inflation and the Federal Reserve continuing to lower interest rates. However, recent developments have seen the 10-year Treasury yield rise above 4% last month, which may not align with Buffett's outlook.

Notable investors, including Paul Tudor Jones, are concerned about the increasing fiscal deficit and believe neither of the presidential candidates will address it by cutting spending. Buffett has suggested this year that he sold some stock holdings due to the possibility of raising tax rates on capital gains to reduce the deficit.