Warren Buffett’s Stock Picks Suffered The Same Fate As Everyone Else’s In Q3

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

• Shares Owned by Buffett (as of June 30): 151,610,700
• Value of Buffett’s Shares (as of June 30): $11.78 Billion
• Percentage of Buffett’s Public Equity Portfolio (as of June 30): 10.99%
• Third Quarter Returns: -4.62%

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)’s third quarter returns weren’t terrible (in a relative sense), likely due to the fact that it had already sank quite a bit this year. It’s been a year to forget for American Express stockholders, as shares have fallen by just over 20% year-to-date. The bulk of those losses came in January, when it was revealed that American Express was at risk of losing Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) as a customer, which it eventually did. American Express has partially filled the void since, partnering up with Sam’s Club, though the expected revenue from that deal is a fraction of what it was pulling in through its exclusive partnership with Costco (which it won’t have with Sam’s Club). It’s likely for those reasons that hedge fund interest in American Express declined during the second quarter among those we track, falling by eight investors to 65 with long positions, though the value of their collective holdings was up slightly. Part of the reason for that was the large new position in the stock opened by ValueAct Capital’s Jeffrey Ubben, of 11.1 million shares valued at over $862 million.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

• Shares Owned by Buffett (as of June 30): 60,385,293
• Value of Buffett’s Shares (as of June 30): $4.28 Billion
• Percentage of Buffett’s Public Equity Portfolio (as of June 30): 3.99%
• Third Quarter Returns: -7.96%

Lastly is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), which was also suffering through a poor year even before the market declines in August. Shares have trended down all year as Wal-Mart’s growth suffers and its push to enhance online sales fails to progress at the desired pace. Then there was the much-publicized raising of the pay floor for Wal-Mart employees to $9 per hour from $7.25 per hour, which has had a notable effect on the company’s bottom-line. Wal-Mart’s fiscal second quarter of 2016 income slid by 8.2% year-over-year, forcing it to lower its full-year income forecast. That in turn has led the company to pressure suppliers to lower costs, and to reportedly cut back on worker hours as it tries to make up the $1 billion in added costs. In our own stock analysis earlier this year of Wal-Mart and rival Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), we declared Target the winner based on its sharper focus and stronger growth. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, managed by Michael Larson, holds 11.60 million shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT).

Disclosure: None