Berkshire Hathaway raises stakes in Japanese trading houses; shares hit record high

Berkshire Hathaway's shares BRKa.N hit a record high after co raised stakes in five Japanese trading houses

Co's class A shares last up ~1% at $779,401. Stock rose as high as $782,495 earlier in Mon's session

Class B shares BRKb.N last up ~1% at $519.48, off from earlier record high $521.70

The gain in Berkshire's shares outpaced a 0.1% rise in the S&P 500 .SPX

Co's stake in Mitsui & Co 8031.T increased to 9.82% from 8.09%; holdings in Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T, Sumitomo Corp 8053.T, Itochu 8001.T, and Marubeni 8002.T also rose, per filings to Japan's securities watchdog

Move follows Buffett's annual shareholder letter indicating trading houses agreed to "moderately relax" ownership limits

Berkshire A shares up ~14% YTD, outperforming S&P 500's 4% drop

Stock recently traded at 25x expected earnings, above 5-year avg forward PE of 22, per LSEG data