Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has bought more shares of Occidental Petroleum. This comes after the oil and gas company’s stock fell more than 30% from its record high. Berkshire purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental on Friday for $35.7 million.
This was disclosed in a regulatory filing. Berkshire is now Occidental’s largest investor, with a 28.2% stake. Occidental’s shares have dropped nearly 32% from their all-time high in April of last year.
The stock fell more than 17% in 2024 as oil prices weakened. In December, Berkshire bought additional shares during a broad market pullback.
Berkshire grows Occidental investment
Occidental is Berkshire’s sixth-largest stock holding. Buffett has said he won’t take complete control of Occidental. There had been speculation of a takeover after Berkshire considered buying up to a 50% stake.
Buffett started buying Occidental shares after reading the company’s earnings call transcript. Occidental pays a 1.8% dividend and has invested in carbon capture. In addition to common shares, Berkshire owns $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock.
It also warrants buying another 83.9 million common shares for $5 billion, or $59.62 each. The warrants came from Berkshire’s financing deal that helped Occidental purchase Anadarko Petroleum in 2019.
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