Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Makes New $11.83 Million Investment in Halliburton Company $HAL

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 303,500 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,833,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in Halliburton by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $34.09 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $20.09 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $28.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.27.

About Halliburton

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.