Warren Buffett went on a buying spree in the stock market before Christmas, purchasing shares of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and other companies during the broad market sell-off in December.
According to a regulatory filing on Thursday evening (December 19), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) acquired an additional 8.9 million shares of the energy producer Occidental Petroleum for $405 million on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, increasing Berkshire’s stake in Occidental to over 28%.
During the same period, Berkshire Hathaway also bought about 5 million shares of Sirius XM (SIRI) for around $113 million, and approximately 234,000 shares of VeriSign (VRSN) for about $45 million. These two transactions were relatively smaller in size and may have been conducted by Buffett’s investing lieutenants Todd Combs and Ted Weschler.
Overall, Berkshire purchased over $560 million worth of stocks over the last three trading days.
Buffett seems to have taken advantage of the market pullback to further reduce the cost basis of these holdings.
Occidental Petroleum’s stock has dropped more than 10% in December and has fallen 24% year-to-date. Notably, this is the first time Buffett has increased his position in Occidental shares in six months. Due to declining oil prices, the company’s stock price has fallen below his previous minimum purchase price. On Friday (December 20), Occidental’s stock briefly rose 5.8% during intraday trading, marking the largest single-day increase since April 2023, with its year-to-date decline narrowing to 20%.
The sell-off for Sirius XM has been even more significant. The New York-based satellite radio company is currently on a six-day losing streak, down 23% this month and 62% so far this year. Berkshire’s stake in Sirius XM has now risen to about 35%. Sirius XM is facing subscriber losses and unfavorable demographic shifts.
Internet company VeriSign is also having a tough year in 2024, with its stock down 6%. Berkshire first purchased this tech stock in 2013 and has not adjusted its stake in years. The stock rose nearly 3% on Friday.
