Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Bought by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 115.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 65,147 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,943 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,239,349,000 after buying an additional 40,969,139 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 26,004,682 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $639,715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,983 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $418,738,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 85.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $175,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HAL. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays upgraded Halliburton from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.05.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.7%

HAL opened at $39.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.07. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $19.44 and a one year high of $43.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 37.36%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $6,338,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,521,080. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% 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. Insiders sold 420,837 shares of company stock valued at $16,979,135 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised Halliburton’s price target to $46 from $42 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling continued analyst confidence in the stock’s upside potential. Evercore adjusts price target on Halliburton
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble appointed Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller as a director, which may slightly improve Halliburton’s industry visibility but does not appear to be a major direct catalyst for the stock. Noble appoints Halliburton CEO as director
• Negative Sentiment: Halliburton fell alongside other oilfield services names after WTI crude prices retreated on easing U.S.-Iran tensions and hopes for reduced disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, which could dampen near-term energy-sector spending. Why Halliburton stock is falling today

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.