Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has been enamored of energy stocks this year.
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Berkshire Hathaway bought about $350 million of stock in Occidental Petroleum on Monday and Tuesday, lifting its stake in the energy company to $8.8 billion, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday evening.
Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK.A, BRK.B) purchased 5.9 million shares of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) on Monday and Tuesday, with nearly all the purchases occurring on Monday. Berkshire now holds 142.3 million shares of Occidental, a 15.2% interest.
These are Berkshire’s first purchases of Occidental since mid-March. Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett quickly accumulated a sizable stake in the oil and gas producer during the first half of March.
As a holder of more than 10% of Occidental, Berkshire needs to file a form 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission within two business days when it changes its stake in Occidental.
Occidental shares were up 3.9% Wednesday to $61.57, while Berkshire’s Class A stock rose 2.7% to $494,343.
Buffett has been enamored of the energy sector this year. Berkshire bought about 120 million shares of Chevron (CVX) in the first quarter, to bring its stake in the energy giant to $25.9 billion on March 31– some 159 million shares.
Berkshire also owns $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock paying an 8% annual dividend, and 83.9 million warrants to purchase Occidental common stock at $59.62 a share. Those warrants are now in the money with Occidental’s advance Wednesday.
Write to Andrew Bary at [email protected]
