By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) -Berkshire Hathaway's share price set a record high on Monday, reflecting investors' confidence in Warren Buffett's company, which is often regarded as a microcosm of the broader American economy.
The price of Berkshire's Class A shares closed up 2.1% at $652,997.17. They earlier reached $653,861, surpassing the previous high of $647,039 set on Feb. 26. Berkshire's more widely held Class B shares are worth about 1/1,500th as much.
Monday's gain boosted the market value of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire to approximately $937 billion, based on reported shares outstanding. The stock trades at about 23 times the full-year operating profit that analysts project.
Some stock price services show Berkshire's record-high Class A share price was $741,971 on June 3. That appears to reflect a glitch that also caused the price of the Class B shares to briefly fall more than 99% that day.
Berkshire owns dozens of insurance, energy, manufacturing, retail and service businesses including Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) Energy and Dairy Queen ice cream.
It also owns a huge stock portfolio led by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), whose share price has risen 37% since the end of March.
Despite having donated more than half his Berkshire stock since 2006, the 93-year-old Buffett still owns about 14.5% of the company, worth about $135.8 billion.
His overall fortune is about $137 billion, making him the world's eighth-richest person, Forbes magazine said on Monday.
Berkshire shares have risen 20% this year, compared with an 18% gain in the Standard & Poor's 500.
Over the last decade, Berkshire shares have performed close to the index, but with less volatility, after accounting for dividends. Berkshire does not pay a dividend.