Groupe la Francaise Boosts Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Groupe la Francaise grew its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 337,282 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127,282 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $11,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Carlson Financial Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Carlson Financial Inc. now owns 11,278 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 2,886.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 82,808,973 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,811,365,000 after acquiring an additional 80,036,032 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 165.8% in the second quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 498,818 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $16,935,000 after acquiring an additional 311,149 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 6.2% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 20,370 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 6.8% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,018 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.1%

HAL opened at $37.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.02. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $21.46 and a one year high of $43.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.76.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 35.60%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $1,844,751.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 118,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on HAL shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 target price on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.