Ritholtz Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Halliburton Company $HAL

Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 72,153 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Halliburton by 82.1% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 48,900 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $997,000 after buying an additional 22,045 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,595,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 82.4% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,482 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 19,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 539,079 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $11,132,000 after acquiring an additional 37,512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Halliburton from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Halliburton from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Zephirin Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.57.

Key Stories Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BMO raised its price target on HAL to $36 (from $31), signaling modest analyst upside and supporting valuation. MarketScreener: BMO Capital Adjusts Halliburton Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Management and industry reports indicate a fast path back into Venezuela — if reforms allow free exports, oilfield-service firms like Halliburton stand to capture early upside from ramping production. This is a material operational catalyst if realized. Reuters: International oil companies push for quick reforms in Venezuela
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst previews (Zacks) suggest Halliburton’s cost cuts and margin gains could lift Q4 EPS even with revenue pressure — a potential near-term earnings beat that would support the stock. Zacks: Halliburton Q4 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton promoted Casey Maxwell to president, Western Hemisphere — an operational leadership move that could help execution in the region (not an immediate earnings driver). BizJournals: Halliburton names next Western Hemisphere president
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and previews (Zacks/TipRanks) are circulating updated estimates and metric-level expectations for the quarter — useful for modeling but not yet consensus-moving. Zacks: Explore Wall Street Estimates for Halliburton Q4
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple former executives have filed or are reported to be pursuing large discrimination/dismissal claims (reports cite $250M–$375M), creating headline and legal risk. That litigation can pressure sentiment and add potential costs. Arise: Ex-Halliburton Executive Togun Sues Company For $250 Million
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling reported (representative Gilbert Cisneros Jr. unloaded HAL shares), which can be seen as a negative signal to some investors even if unrelated to company fundamentals. AmericanBankingNews: Halliburton Stock Unloaded Rep. Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL opened at $32.58 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.93. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $18.72 and a 1 year high of $33.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 5.91%.Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total value of $246,938.06. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at $9,302,095.92. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 268,854 shares of company stock worth $7,915,138 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Company 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.