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Should Value Investors Buy Berkshire Hathaway's Stock?

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  • (1:00) - Does Berkshire Hathaway's Stock Fit Into Your Portfolio?
  • (6:30) - Should You Be Following Warren Buffett’s Trades vs. Buying The Stock?
  • (10:30) - Funds That May Benefit Your Portfolio: Tracey’s Top Picks
  • (21:15) - Episode Roundup: BRKB, ULTA, VOO, SLYV, AAPL, CVX, BAC, FHB, PPBI, BKU
  •                 Podcast@Zacks.com

 

Welcome to Episode #258 of the Value Investor Podcast.

Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.

Value investors are big fans of Warren Buffett, and by extension, Berkshire Hathaway.

Many value investors, including Tracey, have contemplated buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway, or are already owners.

These would be Berkshire Hathaway’s “B” shares (BRK.B - Free Report) . But if you can afford the “A” shares, good for you.

Tracey actually did own Berkshire shares around the time of the financial crisis, but she sold all her shares in 2013 and never looked back.

Should you buy Berkshire Hathaway’s stock?

Berkshire Hathaway’s 10-Year Performance

Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate. It owns dozens of businesses outright, shares in many others and then has cash and short-term investments.

Over the last 10 years, Berkshire Hathaway’s stock has gained 262%. Not too shabby, except that the S&P 500 was up 275% during this same time period.

A value investor could have just bought the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO - Free Report) and outperformed.

Even Buffett himself has said he expects his wife to be invested in general index funds, like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, after his death.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has low fees and pays a dividend, currently yielding 1.3%.

But Apple!

One of the reasons many value investors want to own Berkshire Hathaway shares is because of the equity portfolio, specifically Apple (AAPL - Free Report) .

There’s no doubt Apple has been one of Buffett’s best investments since he bought BNSF railroad in 2010.

It’s the largest holding in the equity portfolio, and as of the end of the second quarter 2021, Apple was 41.47% of the portfolio.

That’s domination.

But value investors don’t need to buy Berkshire Hathaway to own Apple. They can buy Apple’s stock on their own.

You Can Buy Berkshire Hathaway’s Portfolio

Value investors can also buy the second largest equity position, Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) , if they are interested in owning one of the large banks.

Bank of America is still cheap, with a forward P/E of 13.4. It’s a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.

Bank of America, like Apple, also pays a dividend, currently yielding 1.8%.

Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t even pay a dividend.

Other Ways to Buy Tech

Interested in tech and think Berkshire Hathaway gets you exposure?

You can just buy the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ - Free Report) which also has Apple as its largest position, same as Berkshire Hathaway.

The Invesco QQQ Trust also has a 7.8% position in Amazon, which is also in Berkshire’s portfolio, but it also gives you Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla and others that Berkshire doesn’t.

Year-to-date, the Invesco QQQ Trust is up 24.7% while Berkshire’s B-shares are up 23.5%.

The Invesco QQQ Trust also pays a small dividend, currently yielding about 0.5%. Remember, Berkshire’s dividend is 0%.

What else do you need to know about whether you should buy Berkshire Hathaway’s stock?

Tune into this week’s podcast to find out.
 

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