????周三，伯克希爾·哈撒韋公司（Berkshire Hathaway）又有大動作。它斥巨資買進大筆股票，消息傳出，市場反響熱烈，公司A級股票價格上漲了2.5%，達到134,200美元。

????此次買進的對象與公司主席兼CEO沃倫·巴菲特一直跟蹤的公司不同。實際上，伯克希爾公司宣布，公司從一個長期投資者手中回購了12億美元股票。

????此次回購是截至目前為止，伯克希爾規模最大的一次股票回購。

????而A級股票每股131,000美元的回購價格也令人匪夷所思。該價格約為第三季度末伯克希爾股票票面價值的118%，稍高于市場估算截至目前公司股票票面價值的百分比。131,000美元約為當前公司股票每股票面價值的115%。

????即便是115%，仍然令外界吃驚，因為早在2011年9月，伯克希爾曾規定回購股票的價格上限為票面價值的110%。

????那么，這一次到底有哪些變化呢？一位大投資者希望出售其持有的伯克希爾股票，巴菲特認為，這次回購大筆股票（9,200股A級股票）的機會絕對物有所值。而賣方也認為一次性出售好過將股票在市場中分散銷售。

????伯克希爾并沒有公布投資者的身份。外界也在紛紛猜測，不過，大規模持有伯克希爾股票的股東有很多，要想確定此次投資者的身份并不容易。

????伯克希爾在公告中表示，除了回購這筆股票，公司還將股票回購的價格上限提高到票面價值的120%。

????許多伯克希爾股東一直認為公司股票價值被低估，并希望巴菲特提升公司股價，公司這次的舉動讓這些股東興奮不已。每一屆伯克希爾年度大會上總會有人提起巴菲特為什么不加大回購力度的問題。

????由《財富》雜志（Fortune?）和筆者共同發行的巴菲特《跳著踢踏舞去上班》（Tap Dancing To Work）一書介紹了伯克希爾回購股票的歷史。巴菲特曾在1999年表示，有時候自己也會錯過回購的機會。他還表示，回購的決定可能會弄巧成拙。也就是說，他只是宣布伯克希爾將回購股票，這個消息就會推動公司股票上漲，結果導致回購價格超出伯克希爾的預期。

????Berkshire Hathaway bought an "elephant" Wednesday, and the price of the company's A stock jumped by 2.5% to $134,200 as the market applauded the news.

????This elephant was a different breed from the corporate kind chairman and CEO Warren Buffett has been stalking. Instead, Berkshire announced that itbought $1.2 billion of its own stockfrom the estate of a long-time shareholder.

????This is by far the largest amount of its own stock the company has ever bought.

????The price, too -- $131,000 per Class A share -- was a mindbender. It is about 118% of Berkshire's book value at the end of the third quarter and a slightly lower percentage of what book value can be estimated to have grown to by now. So perhaps $131,000 is 115% of what book value per share now is.

????What's startling about even 115% is that Berkshire had made a new offer in September 2011 to buy its own stock at prices up to 110% of book value -- but no higher.

????What appears to have changed? Berkshire (BRKA) stock owned by a large estate came up for sale, and Buffett decided the chance to buy a huge chunk of stock -- 9,200 Class A shares -- was worth the price. The seller, meanwhile, probably decided a one-lump sale was superior to dribbling stock into the market.

????Berkshire did not announce the identity of the estate. There will be speculation about who it was, of course, but there are so many under-the-radar holders of big amounts of Berkshire stock that the quest will not be easy.

????Berkshire said in its announcement that, besides buying this block of stock, it was simultaneously raising its limits on the price it would pay for its own shares to 120% of book value.

????Today's moves will please the many Berkshire shareholders who believe the company's stock is undervalued and have wanted Buffett to pay up. Questions about why he doesn't buy more aggressively are a perennial at Berkshire's annual meeting.

????The Buffett book that?Fortune?and I have just released,?Tap Dancing To Work,?gives the history of Berkshire's buying in its own stock. Buffett said on an occasion in 1999 that he had sometimes "erred" in not buying in stock and has also said that a decision to buy is likely to be self-defeating. That is, his mere announcement that Berkshire would buy has the effect of sending the stock up -- to a price that exceeds what Berkshire would pay..