Legendary investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) continues to ramp up its stake in oil and gas giant Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY). Following the completion of the recent transaction, Berkshire’s stake in Occidental has increased to 24.9% from 24.4%.
According to the SEC filing, Berkshire bought over 4.6 million shares of Occidental at prices ranging from $58.3 to $58.85, for an aggregate value of $273 million. Based on the closing price of $58.59 per share on Tuesday, Berkshire now owns about 222 million OXY shares worth nearly $13 billion.
It is noteworthy that Buffett’s passion for OXY seems to be only growing. This month, he bought about 8.28 million shares of Occidental, worth $598.7 million. In addition to this, Berkshire owns 93,532 Occidental preferred shares with an 8% dividend and 84 million warrants to buy the common shares at $59.62 per piece.
Importantly, Buffett has permission to purchase up to a 50% stake in Occidental. However, at Berkshire’s annual meeting earlier this month, Buffett disclosed his intention to not take control of Occidental entirely but to continue buying the stock.
Is it a Good Time to Buy OXY Stock?
Occidental continues to expand its chemicals business and strengthen its low-carbon platform, which is likely to support its long-term prospects. Moreover, OXY’s efforts to upgrade and enhance its plants might help boost volumes and cash flows while reducing operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Wall Street analysts are cautiously optimistic about OXY stock. It has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on eight Buys and seven Holds. The average price target of $71.67 implies 22.3% upside potential.
As per TipRanks data, the most accurate analyst for Occidental is Bank of America Securities analyst Doug Leggate. Copying the analyst’s trades on this stock and holding each position for one year could result in 68% of your transactions generating a profit, with an average return of 16.59% per trade. Importantly, the analyst reaffirmed his Buy rating on OXY stock about 21 days ago.
