Berkshire Hathaway Isn’t Finished Buying Occidental Petroleum Stock

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway just bought even more Occidental Petroleum (OXY) stock.

With oil prices still low, the firm bought another 4.66 million OXY shares for $275 million in late May. And while Buffett says there’s no interest in owning OXY, he may not be finished buying the stock, as noted by Business Insider.

“Buffett probably isn’t done building his stake in the company, given that Berkshire Hathaway has received the green light from regulators to own up to 50% of the company,” they noted.

In March, Berkshire Hathaway bought another 5.8 million shares of OXY, paying between $59.80. and $61.90. Also, in March, the firm would buy another 3.7 million shares for $218 million. Today, it was announced the firm bought another $130 million worth of the OXY stock. That now brings the firm’s holdings in OXY to 213.9 million shares, valued at over $12 billion.

“Since Berkshire began accumulating stock in Occidental in early 2022, there was speculation that Buffett might want to buy the whole company. But he said recently at Berkshire’s annual meeting that he doesn’t seek control of the company,” says Barron’s.

Not only is OXY a strong company, it recently hiked its dividend by 38% to 18 cents a share, and it announced a new $3 billion stock buyback program.

“The latest stock buys increased Berkshire Hathaway’s total stake in Occidental Petroleum to about 222 million shares, or about 24.9% of the entire company. Berkshire also owns nearly $10 billion of the company’s preferred stock, as well as warrants that give it the right to buy $5 billion worth of stock at a fixed price,” added Business Insider.

In short, every time OXY dips, buy. Buffett is likely to.