By Arasu Kannagi Basil

Sept 3 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) has

offloaded Bank of America ( BAC ) shares worth more than a

combined $6 billion following a strong run in the second-largest

U.S. lender's stock, with some analysts seeing profit-taking at

the heart of the share sales.

The conglomerate late on Friday disclosed it had sold about

21.1 million shares in Bank of America ( BAC ) between Aug. 28 and Aug.

30. Berkshire must report its sales until its stake in BofA,

which is currently at 11.4%, falls below 10%.

Berkshire has now dumped about 150.1 million shares in Bank

of America ( BAC ) in several rounds of share sales since mid-July,

raking in about $6.2 billion, according to LSEG data.

"The Berkshire BofA sale is just profit taking after being

opportunistic when the stock was much cheaper," said Christopher

Marinac, director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott.

BofA's stock, down 1% on Tuesday, has risen more than 50%

since late October. The string of sales, however, has weighed on

its shares which have lagged the broader market since Berkshire

first disclosed its sales.

Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) and Bank of America ( BAC ) did not immediately

respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Warren Buffett, one of the world's most revered investors,

started investing in Bank of America ( BAC ) in 2011 when Berkshire

bought $5 billion of preferred stock.

The purchase signaled his confidence in CEO Brian Moynihan

turning around BofA following the 2008 financial crisis.

"Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) have likely trimmed the Bank

of America ( BAC ) stake to right-size it proportionate to Apple after

recently halving that stock," said Michael Ashley Schulman,

chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.

The billionaire investor is not commonly known for profit

realization through sales, but he does occasionally realize

upside, Schulman added.

Berkshire continues to be BofA's largest shareholder, owning

882.7 million shares worth $35.97 billion as of Friday's close.