Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) to 24.4%. According to a regulatory filing, the Warren Buffett company paid $201 million for 3.46 million Occidental shares between May 16 and 18.
Berkshire bought 5.62 million Occidental shares on six consecutive trading days for $327 million.
It owns 217.3 million $12.7 billion Occidental shares. In addition, Berkshire has $9.5 billion of Occidental preferred stock with an 8% dividend and warrants to buy $5 billion of common shares at $59.62 apiece.
Occidental closed Thursday at $58.25, down 67 cents.
Berkshire bought the preferred stock and warrants in 2019 to finance Houston-based Occidental’s acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
It bought ordinary shares early last year when Russia invaded Ukraine, and oil prices increased.
At Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting on May 6, Buffett dubbed Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub an “extraordinary manager” and noted Occidental’s position in the Permian Basin, where much U.S. petroleum is produced.
He also denied that Berkshire would buy Occidental to diversify its oil portfolio.
“We’re not going to buy control,” he declared. “We’ve got the right management running it… we wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
Berkshire bought the remaining 22.6% of BNSF for $26.5 billion 2010. Buffett, 92, runs Berkshire.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate controls dozens of businesses, including Geico car insurance, various retail and manufacturing industries, and equities like Apple Inc. (AAPL.O).
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