According to the information from a regulatory filing made on Wednesday, Nebraska Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased more Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) shares and increased their stake to almost 23.1% in the company.
Occidental Petroleum Corp is an American company that focuses its operations in fields like petrochemical exploration and petrochemical manufacturing.
As per the details mentioned in the filing, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway paid a sum of $466.68 million between March 13, 2023, and March 15, 2023, for around 7.9 million Occidental shares.
The purchase of the shares from Occidental Petroleum Corp. by Berkshire Hathaway is after a short gap of five months. The filing also revealed earlier this month that Berkshire Hathaway has resumed the purchase of stocks from Occidental.
After the most recent purchase, Berkshire Hathaway now owns almost 208.04 million shares of Occidental and these shares are calculated to have a value of $11.81 billion.
The value of the shares is calculated based on the closing price of $56.80 on Wednesday. Even though there was a gap in the purchase of shares, Berkshire Hathaway started purchasing the shares from Occidental Petroleum Corp. almost a year ago.
Before the most recent purchase of shares from Occidental, Berkshire Hathaway owned almost 21.4% of the company’s shares. Occidental is currently one of the top 10 holdings of Berkshire and was one of the best performers in the S&P 500 the previous year.
The current CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp, Vicki Hollub stated in one of her most recent interviews that she had met with Warren Buffet just a few days back.
She also added that they both discussed in detail the oil and gas industry and also about the new technologies and innovations that are involved in the industry. The CEO of Berkshire, Warren Buffet is currently 92 years old and he had been serving in the position since 1978.
Berkshire Hathaway And Occidental Petroleum Corp. – An Quick Glance Into Their History
It was in August 2022 that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway received the regulatory approval that allowed them to purchase up to 50% of Occidental Petroleum Corp. The news about the approval did good for petroleum giants and their share had a sudden surge of almost 10%.
As the news about the regulatory approval became known to the public, there were many speculations about the future of Occidental Petroleum and the involvement of Berkshire in the company. The news gave rise to arguments that Warren Buffet and his company were planning to buy the whole company eventually.
Many people like Cole Smead who is the president of Smead Capital Management stated that Buffet will buy as many shares of the company as he can get below $70 or $75. Smith is also a Berkshire shareholder.
Sharing similar thoughts, the finance professor at the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith also stated that there was a possibility of the acquisition of Occidental by Berkshire Hathaway.
Even though there were speculations about Berkshire taking over Occidental, there were no official statements from Berkshire. After the approval, Warren Buffet who is also known as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ stated that the annual report of the Occidental along with its storing leadership and growth was the primary reason that prompted him and his company to make an investment in them.
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Buffet also mentioned an interaction that he had with Vicki Hollub back then and he stated that what she said about the operations and future plans of the company made complete sense.
The buffet was so impressed by the company’s performance – from where they had been to where they are now and also by the plans the company has with the investment money.
Buffet was confident in the operations, leadership, and also in future plans of Occidental. His trust and investment in the company prompted many small investors to follow his path and place their bets on Occidental. Following the trend, the information from VandaTrack suggested that Occidental was one of the favorite retail stocks the past year.
The Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an American company based in Houston, Texas that works in the field of hydrocarbon exploration and also in petrochemical manufacture. The company has operations in different countries like the United States, Chile, and Canada. The company was placed in the 670th position on Forbes Global 2000.
Berkshire Hathaway is an American multinational conglomerate holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company was recognized as a holding company in 1970 and Warren Buffet had been serving as the CEO of the company since 1978.
It is one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States and the company is one of the top-ranked companies in the Forbes Global 2000. The company has huge investments in different areas like utilities and energy, clothing, building products, flight services, retail, media, real estate, and many more.
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