Berkshire Hathaway
continued to buy more
Occidental Petroleum
stock in recent days, purchasing about $200 million and lifting its stake in the big energy company to $12.7 billion.
Berkshire Hathaway (Ticker BRK/A, BRK/B) bought about 3.5 million shares of Occidental Petroleum at a price of $58 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, lifting its interest to 217.3 million shares, or 24.4% of the company, according to a form 4 report released late Thursday.
The buying followed the purchase by Berkshire of $130 million of Occidental stock on the prior three trading sessions (May 11, 12 and 15).
Berkshire has been an active buyer of Occidental at a price below $60 a share since it began accumulating the stock in early 2022. The purchases show that Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett remains enamored with the company, headed by CEO Vicki Hollub, who is well-regarded by Buffett.
At Berkshire’s recent annual meeting, Buffett dampened speculation that he wants to own all of Occidental, saying he has no interest in controlling the company. The issue now is how much more stock is Berkshire willing to buy as it approaches a 25% holding in Occidental.
Occidental shares were down 1.1% to $58.25 Thursday while Berkshire’s Class A stock was up 0.8% to $504,360. Occidental stock has come under some pressure lately with the rest of the energy sector, giving Buffett an opportunity to buy more stock.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
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