Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Lowers Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 53.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 893,827 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 1,014,060 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $35,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Halliburton by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,304,000. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $158,525,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 85.5% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Halliburton from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.27.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $35.24 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. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $20.17 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.71 and a 200-day moving average of $36.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.71.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.36%.

More Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton won multiple multi-year Saudi Aramco contracts, including work tied to the Jafurah gas project and a 285-well campaign, expanding its footprint in a key growth market. Halliburton Lands Aramco Deal for Saudi Arabia’s Jafurah Gas Project
• Positive Sentiment: Offshore and industry coverage pointed to Halliburton “reaping rewards” from Aramco-led awards, reinforcing expectations for stronger international activity and backlog growth. Deals of the week: Halliburton reaps rewards as Aramco leads the prizegiving
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also highlighted Halliburton’s deepwater momentum, suggesting continued strength in activity trends beyond Saudi Arabia. Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Gains on Deepwater Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton is nearing its Q2 earnings report, with investors watching for signs that stronger completion and drilling activity offset Middle East disruptions and higher costs. Halliburton Set to Report Q2 Earnings: Key Things To Watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage from MarketWatch and other outlets largely reiterated the Aramco contract news, which keeps the market focused on backlog and project execution rather than a new catalyst. Halliburton Gets Aramco Contracts for Saudi Oil Wells

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.