Buffett’s Berkshire stocks up on more Occidental Petroleum shares

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is back to increasing its stake in Occidental Petroleum.

Berkshire was very active in buying shares of the company in the past year but hasn’t added to its holding of the oil exploration and manufacturing company in five months.

Buffett’s company now has about a 22.2% stake, according to a regulatory filing.

Berkshire paid about $355 million for 5.8 million Occidental shares between March 3 and March 7.

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Berkshire’s last purchase of Occidental shares was in September, giving the company a 21.4% stake at the end of last year.

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In August, Berkshire won U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permission to buy up to 50% of Occidental’s common stock.

Buffett’s company now owns about 200.2 million Occidental shares worth $12.2 billion, based on Tuesday’s closing price of $60.85.

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Those shares would generate about $144 million of annual dividends, following a 38% increase that Occidental announced last month.

Berkshire also owns $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock that throws off $800 million of annual dividends, plus warrants to buy another $5 billion of common stock.

Occidental’s share price more than doubled in 2022, benefiting from higher oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine.

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Occidental is just one of many companies that Berkshire holds stakes in including Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, and other stocks including Apple.

Reuters contributed to this report.