It wasn't Warren Buffett who dumped 2.9 million Apple shares last quarter

“None of the shares under Warren’s direction have ever been sold.” — Debbie Bosanek, Berkshire Hathaway

From Jonathan Stempel’s Berkshire trims Apple stake, adds Suncor and Red Hat, exits Oracle, posted on CNBC late Thursday:

Thursday’s filing includes investments by Buffett and his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, but does not say who bought and sold what.

Berkshire said in the filing that its Apple stake shrank to 249.6 million shares in the quarter from 252.5 million, reducing its reported stake to below $40 billion as Apple’s share price slid 30 percent.

Buffett, though, had nothing to do with the selling.

“One of the managers other than Warren had a position in Apple and sold part of it in order to make an unrelated purchase,” Buffett’s assistant Debbie Bosanek said in an email. “None of the shares under Warren’s direction have ever been sold.”

My take: A detail missed by most of the early reports., for example:

Market Realist: No More Apple for Buffett despite Stock Falling in Q4