Warren Buffett's Berkshire Bumps Up Occidental Stake To Over 22% With $355M Stock Buy

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) bought over 5.8 million shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY between March 3 and March 7, according to a regulatory filing.

This is the first purchase of Occidental shares disclosed by Berkshire Hathaway after Sept. 2022, according to a Reuters report that puts the Buffett-owned firm's current stake in the company at 22.2%.

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Berkshire paid $354.51 million for 5.8 million Occidental shares between March 3 and March 7, the filing shows.

Shares of Occidental lost 0.33% since the beginning of the year. Occidental reported fourth-quarter revenue of $8.33 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.61, which missed average analyst estimates of $1.80.

The company said it repaid $1.1 billion of debt during the fourth quarter bringing total debt repayments for the year up to $10.5 billion.

Shareholding: In August, Berkshire won U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permission to purchase up to 50% of Occidental’s common stock, a Reuters report said.

Currently, Berkshire holds 200.15 million shares in the company at an estimated valuation of over $12 billion based on Occidental shares' Tuesday closing price of $60.85.

In Sept. 2022, Berkshire loaded up over 5.98 million shares of Occidental at over $352 million.

Berkshire also owns $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock that gives $800 million in annual dividends. Berkshire also owns warrants to buy another $5 billion of common stock, the Reuters report said.

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