Berkshire Hathaway Buys Back $1.2B of Stock

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said on Wednesday that it had repurchased $1.2 billion of its own stock and raised the price at which it is willing to buy back shares.

The conglomerate run by Warren Buffett, which operates a variety of companies in the insurance, energy, rail and utility sectors, said its board had authorized stock repurchases at up to 120 percent of book value, up from a previous level of 110 percent.

Berkshire’s book value per share as of Sept. 30 was $111,718, indicating that it can now buy back shares at up to $134,062 apiece, up from $122,890 apiece. Th e company said it had bought back 9,200 Class-A shares from a long-time investor at a price of $131,000 apiece.

Berkshire’s shares were temporarily halted on the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the news, which indicated a more aggressive stance on buying back shares. In its most recent quarterly filing, Berkshire said it had not made any repurchases in the first nine months of 2012.

Berkshire’s Class A shares rose after its announcement, recently up 2.5 percent at $134,050.