Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Increases Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 25.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 344,853 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,700 shares during the quarter. Halliburton accounts for approximately 1.6% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $13,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,833,000. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at $246,000. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,432 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Wealth Effects LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at $273,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Griffin Securities raised shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Halliburton from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.27.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Trading Down 1.7%

Halliburton stock opened at $34.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.09 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The company has a market capitalization of $28.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.64.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

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.