No. of Recommendations: 2
' Amid a selloff in the energy sector, Occidental Petroleum shares are down to their lowest levels since late September, when Berkshire Hathaway made its most recent purchases of the oil and gas company.
Occidental shares (ticker: OXY) were down 1.5% to 59.82 in Tuesday's session after falling 2.8% Friday.
But trading volume in Occidental spiked to 20 million shares on Friday, the most for any session this year and above the 90-day average of 13 million shares.
That raises the question of whether Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A, BRK/B) CEO Warren Buffett has been buying more Occidental lately.
Berkshire's last purchases of Occidental occurred Sept. 26-28, when the stock traded in a range of $58 to $61. Berkshire holds 194.4 million shares, a 21% stake worth about $11.6 billion. The stock traded above $75 in November.'
No. of Recommendations: 0
' Buffett has been price conscious and has paid in the mid to high 50s for the vast bulk of the stake since Berkshire began disclosing its purchases in March. Investors should know by Wednesday if Berkshire has been buying more Occidental stock since it must disclose purchases within two business days as a holder of more than 10%.
Berkshire had no immediate comment.
Buffett may address the Occidental stake and the accumulation of the stock in his annual shareholder letter due on Saturday morning. Buffett is a fan of Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub.'
