Cramer: Warren Buffett's decision to sell shares 'devastating' for IBM

• Jim Cramer says Berkshire Hathaway selling IBM shares is a major slap.
• "I think it's devastating for IBM," Cramer says.
• Late Thursday, Warren Buffett announced his Berkshire Hathaway had unloaded about a third of its stake in IBM.

The decision by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to sell about a third of its IBM shares is a major slap, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Friday.

"I think it's devastating for IBM. IBM spent a lot of time trying to figure out what Warren really wanted. (They) felt what he really wanted was return of cash and buy back stock. I think to some degree, a return of cash and buy back stock has constrained that company," Cramer said on "Squawk Box."

Late Thursday, Buffett told CNBC about Berkshire Hathaway's sale of roughly a third of its stake in IBM in the first and second quarters.

Buffett, whose company owned about 81 million shares of IBM at the end of 2016, said he doesn't "value IBM the same way" he did six years ago when he started buying it.

"I've revalued it somewhat downward," Buffett told CNBC. "When it got above $180 we actually sold a reasonable amount of stock."

— CNBC's Becky Quick contributed to this report.