Warren Buffett's Berkshire Boosts Stake In Five Japanese Trading Houses

Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) has raised its stakes in Japan's five biggest trading houses, regulatory filings showed.

The move is in line with Berkshire's statement in 2020 that its investments in the Japanese trading houses were for the long term and the stakes could rise to 9.9%.

Berkshire's stakes have increased to 6.59% from 5.04% in Mitsubishi Corp, to 6.62% from 5.03% in Mitsui & Co Ltd MITST, to 6.21% from 5.02% in Itochu Corp (OTC: ITOCF) (OTC: ITOCY), to 6.75% from 5.06% in Marubeni Corp (OTC: MARUY) (OTC: MARUF), and to 6.57% from 5.04% in Sumitomo Corp.

Takashi Hiroki, the chief strategist at Monex, said he was not surprised that Berkshire had bought more shares, Reuters reported.

"Trading companies' high stock prices are associated with high commodities prices, but there's much more to their businesses than that," he said. "Their earnings are good, and shareholder returns are strong."

Berkshire's increased investments in the trading houses come after it bought more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd TSM, a significant foray into the technology sector by the conglomerate.

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