Shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) are down over 1% in premarket trading Monday after Warren Buffett said on May 6 that Berkshire Hathaway does not plan to take full control of the US oil giant.
With today’s drop in the premarket, Occidental’s stock price fell around 3% year-to-date. The company stood at $60.26 per share at press time, down around 0.7% from the Friday close of $60.69 per share.
“There’s speculation about us buying control; we’re not going to buy control. We wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
– the legendary stock investor said during Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting.
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Buffett’s remarks represent a response to recent speculations that the 92-year-old investor could acquire Occidental after constantly increasing his stake in the oil company over the past year. Since securing regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of shares in OXY last year, Berkshire has been steadily adding to its holdings in the company, raising its stake to 23.5%.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate holds $10 billion worth of OXY preferred shares and has warrants to purchase an additional 83.9 million common shares for $5 billion, for a price per share of $59.62.
On Saturday, Berkshire said that Occidental redeemed roughly $474 million of the preferred shares at a premium, a move that slashed dividend payouts.
OXY price analysis
Over the past month, OXY’s price traded in a significant range of $65.06 to $58.45 and down more than 21% from its 52-week high of $77.13 per share.
This marks a sharp U-turn for the company, which saw its stock price more than double in 2022 as one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500.
Based on 28 analyst ratings on TradingView, OXY is currently rated as ‘Buy.’ 9 experts believe the stock is a ‘Strong Buy,’ while only 2 consider it a ‘Strong Sell.” Meanwhile, 16 analysts rate OXY as ‘Hold.’
Looking ahead, the consensus of 24 analyst predictions sees Occidental’s stock price rising to $70.13 in 1 year, implying a 15.5% increase from current levels. The highest and lowest analyst estimates stand at $86 and $56 price per share, respectively.
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