Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway continues to be bullish on Occidental Petroleum. The conglomerate recently bought another 794,389 Occidental shares, bringing its stake in the Texas oil company to 16.4 percent.
This new purchase, worth around $44 million, comes after Berkshire acquired 9.5 million shares in transactions made on June 17th and June 22nd. As a result, Berkshire now owns 153.5 million shares of Occidental that are worth more than $9 billion. And this might just be the beginning.
According to Reuters, Berkshire has options that would allow them to buy a further 83.9 million Occidental shares in the future. If the options get picked up, Berkshire, already the largest individual shareholder of Occidental, would increase its stake to 25 percent.
Berkshire’s investments and increase in oil price have caused a big surge in value for Occidental Petroleum stock (OXY). It spiked 94 percent in the past year and closed at $60.68 per share on Tuesday. It previously peaked at $70.86 in late May.
Besides Occidental Petroleum, Berkshire Hathaway also made a number of other major investments in 2022. It increased its stake in oil giant Chevron, now one of Berkshire’s most significant positions, while also investing in video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard and computer maker HP.