RALEIGH – Investors in Red Hat, its shares already driven higher by the $34 billion acquisition by IBM that has yet to close, saw their shares hit a new high Thursday morning on news that Warren Buffett had upped his ownership of RHT by more than 22 percent.
Red Hat rose to $185.27 at 9:45 a.m. Thursday. Its 52-week low is $115.31.
Stocks are still trading below the $190 per share cash offer from IBM. The US Department of Justice has approved the deal but the companies are still waiting for an OK from the European Union.
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According to regulatory filing, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has bought some 1 million shares in Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), giving the firm 5.1 million shares.
Buffett first disclosed a buy of Red Hat shares in February. That news sent RHT to a new high at that time.
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Investor’s Business Daily noted that the Red Hat buy was further evidence of Berkshire Hathaway’s “growing involvement in the tech space.”
Having said recently that he regretted not buying Amazon shares, Buffett also invested nearly a billion dollars through the purchase of some 483,000 shares in the quarter ending March 31.
Red Hat shares traded at $116 when the IBM merger was announced last October. Shares immediately jumped to $170 and have not traded below the $172 mark since.
