Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 774,449 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 20.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,052,183 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 774,449 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $119,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 20,583 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,408 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 309.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 52,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at about $895,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HAL. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Citigroup increased their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. 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, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,475 shares of company stock valued at $9,931,490. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.1%

HAL opened at $32.22 on Monday. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.39 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.49.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 35.60%.

Key Headlines Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beetaloo Energy to support a proposed gas-to-power project linked to an artificial-intelligence data center in Australia’s Northern Territory. The opportunity could create future work in drilling, production and energy infrastructure, although it is not yet a firm contract. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” recommendation for HAL, offering some support after the stock’s recent weakness. Halliburton consensus recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton stock rose in the latest session but continued to underperform the broader market, indicating that investors remain cautious despite the recent bounce. MarketWatch stock performance article
• Negative Sentiment: UBS said Halliburton’s soft third-quarter guidance is weighing on the stock. The cautious outlook raises concerns about weaker oilfield-services demand, pricing or international activity in the near term. UBS Halliburton outlook article

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.