These Stocks Just Earned A Spot in His Portfolio — Should You Invest Too?

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These Stocks Just Earned A Spot in His Portfolio — Should You Invest Too?

Editorial Board

February 8, 2024

These Stocks Just Earned A Spot in His Portfolio — Should You Invest Too?

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Warren Buffett’s portfolio holdings are closely tracked by investors around the world. Often hailed as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett’s strategic investment bets allowed him to add approximately $13 billion to his net worth between Jan. 2, 2023, and Jan. 2, 2024.

Buffett has long preached the importance of long-term investing, stating, “Our favorite holding period is forever.” The investment guru only holds 45 stocks in his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. portfolio; they were valued at nearly $313 billion as of Sept. 30.

However, following Berkshire Hathaway’s 13-F filing for the fiscal third quarter of 2023, Buffett has bought the shares of Liberty Sirius XM Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. Take a closer look.

Don’t Miss:

Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) is one of Buffett’s favorite oil stocks. He has been consistently buying Occidental stock since last March. Buffett’s latest investment in Occidental was in December when he bought 10 million shares of the company for roughly $588 million.

Berkshire Hathaway’s steady acquisition of Occidental shares raised the question of potential acquisition of the oil giant, which Buffett quashed during the latter’s 2023 annual general meeting in May.

The Oracle’s interest in the oil and gas company was piqued when he read its annual report, which instilled confidence regarding its robust growth trajectory and sound leadership. Buffett has a 27.12% stake in Occidental Petroleum, making it the sixth-largest holding in his portfolio.

Occidental Petroleum announced its plans to acquire CrownRock Minerals, a Midland, Texas-based oil and gas producer, for approximately $12 billion. The acquisition is expected to increase Occidental’s inventory by 33% as well as increase its production capacity by 170 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day.

“We believe the acquisition of CrownRock’s assets adds to the strongest and most differentiated portfolio that Occidental has ever had. We found CrownRock to be a strategic fit, giving us the opportunity to build scale in the Midland Basin and positioning us to drive value creation for our shareholders with immediate free cash flow accretion,” Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub said.

Raymond James and Morgan Stanley have a Strong Buy or equivalent rating on Occidental stock, with a price target of $68, indicating a potential upside of over 22%.

Liberty Sirius XM

Buffett added approximately 70 million shares of Liberty SiriusXM Group (NASDAQ:LSXMA) last month, which is valued at roughly $3.2 billion. He owns nearly 21% of the total outstanding shares of Liberty SiriusXM stock.

In December, Liberty Media announced plans to acquire a majority stake in SiriusXM. However, Liberty Media Chairman John Malone proposed the creation of a separate tracking stock for SiriusXM, which would trade separately from the parent company’s shares. Liberty SiriusXM Holdings is trading at a 30% discount to Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI).

“We have reached an important milestone in Liberty’s ownership of SiriusXM. This combination will create value for all stockholders by eliminating the tracking stock structure, enhancing liquidity and allowing former LSXM stockholders to participate directly in the ongoing performance of SiriusXM,” Liberty Media President and CEO Greg Maffei said.

In a deal struck between Liberty Media and Sirius XM in December, the tracking stock is set to merge with Sirius XM. Liberty SiriusXM holders are expected to receive 8.4 shares of the new Sirius XM stock for each of their shares, translating to a value of about $44 per share.

The deal, slated to close in the early third quarter, presents an opportunity for investors purchasing the tracker at $30.81 to potentially gain roughly $44 in Sirius XM stock within six months. Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeff Jeff Wlodarczak stated that Liberty SiriusXM stock has “the most attractive risk/reward in our coverage.”