Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 104,577,138 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 786,461 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Halliburton worth $2,572,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Halliburton by 22.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,369 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.9% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 51,508 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.3% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 7,374 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.3% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 16,390 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Halliburton by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,720 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $1,900,006.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 344,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,044,943.60. This represents a 13.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 337,002 shares of company stock valued at $11,445,938 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Halliburton from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.95.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $35.32 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.88. The company has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $35.61.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The company had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

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.