Whenever Berkshire Hathaway announces a change in its stock portfolio or CEO Warren Buffett comments about an individual company, it is big news.
Among other investments, Buffett recently added to Berkshire’s Amazon.com AMZN, -0.57% holdings, after the position was first made public in May.Berkshire also has been increasing its holdings of bank stocks. The company is the largest owner of Bank of America BAC, +0.66%, with more than 10% of the common shares. Buffett said earlier this year that shares of large U.S. banks, including Berkshire holding JPMorgan Chase JPM, +0.59%, are significantly undervalued by the market.
Has Buffett lost his touch? Shares of Berkshire Hathaway are down 2% this year through Aug. 28, compared to a 17% total return for the S&P 500. Berkshire’s 15-year total return has lagged the S&P 500 SPX, +0.06% slightly:During Berkshire’s annual meeting in May, when asked if he would recommend investors buy shares of the company or invest in the S&P 500, Buffett said: “I think the financial result would be very close to the same.