OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett is now sitting on more than $325 billion in cash after continuing to dump billions of dollars worth of Apple and Bank of America stocks this year and continuing to make steady gains from all areas Berkshire Hathaways various companies without finding major acquisitions.

Berkshire said it sold about 100 million more Apple shares in the third quarter after halving its massive investment in the iPhone maker last quarter. The remaining stake of about 300 million shares was worth $69.9 billion at the end of September and remains Berkshire's largest single investment it was drastically shortened since the end of last year, when it was worth $174.3 billion.

Investors will also be disappointed to learn that Berkshire didn't repurchase its own shares during the quarter.

Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research, said shareholders are wondering why Buffett continues to accumulate so much cash. “Are they more pessimistic about the future economic and market situation than others perhaps?” she said.

Buffett said at the annual meeting in May that he started selling some of his Apple shares in part because he expected tax rates to rise in the future. However, Jim Shanahan, an analyst at Edward Jones, said he wondered whether part of the reason Buffett began selling Apple was related to the death of Vice Chairman Charlie Munger last year, since the sales stopped shortly after Munger's death began. Shanahan said Buffett has never been as familiar with technology companies as his longtime partner.

“If Charlie Munger were still alive, he might not have sold the position quite so aggressively – maybe even at all,” Shanahan said.

Berkshire said Saturday that investment gains boosted third-quarter profit again, rising to $26.25 billion, or $18,272 per Class A share. A year ago, unrealized paper investment losses pushed the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate's profits to a loss of $12.77 billion, or $8,824 per Class A share.

Buffett has long recommended that investors pay more attention to Berkshire's operating profits if they want to get a good sense of how the companies Berkshire owns are doing, since those numbers don't take investments into account. Berkshire's net income numbers can fluctuate widely from quarter to quarter, as can the value of its investments, regardless of whether the company has bought or sold anything.

Using that metric, Berkshire said its operating profit fell only about 6% to $10.09 billion, or $7,023.01 per Class A share. That compares to $10.8 billion last year, or $7,437.15 per Class A share.

The four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research forecast Berkshire would report operating profit of $7,335.11 per Class A share.

Berkshire's revenue was little changed at $92.995 billion. A year ago, the company reported revenue of $93.21 billion. That figure was above the $92.231 billion in sales forecast by three analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Berkshire owns a number of insurance companies, including Geico, as well as the BNSF railroad, several large utility companies, and a diverse collection of retail and manufacturing companies, including brands such as Dairy Queen and See's Candy.

One of Berkshire's insurers, Guard, reported some additional losses compared to previous years after managers reassessed its policies.

Berkshire solved a mystery from the quarter by revealing how much it paid to acquire the remaining stake in its utilities business from the estate of former Berkshire executive Walter Scott.

Berkshire said it paid $2.4 billion in cash, issued $600 million in debt and gave the Scott family Class B Berkshire shares worth just over $1 billion. So the total compensation was about $4 billion. That means the Scott family didn't get nearly as good a price for its 8 percent stake in the utility as it did when Berkshire Executive Vice Chairman Greg Abel sold his 1 percent stake in the utility for $870 million two years ago -dollars sold.

Abel is expected to succeed the 94-year-old Buffett as CEO in the event of his death.