Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 54.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 514,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182,357 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $10,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,363,599 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,147,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617,696 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,287,989 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $617,269,000 after acquiring an additional 346,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,342,963 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $453,461,000 after purchasing an additional 92,549 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Halliburton by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,903,833 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $242,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 6,625,668 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $135,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,649 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $4,443,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 452,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,562,425.98. The trade was a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total value of $246,938.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 333,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.55.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $29.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $18.72 and a 52 week high of $30.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.28.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.03%.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.