Legal & General Group Plc Invests $160.56 Million in Halliburton Company $HAL

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,729,413 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,564,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.57% of Halliburton at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at $18,786,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth $1,007,000. L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth $6,443,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter valued at about $529,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $1,844,751.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,235.70. This represents a 30.69% 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. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP awards Halliburton an integrated Bumerangue contract: Halliburton will provide drilling, reservoir evaluation and digital technologies for BP’s first appraisal campaign at the Bumerangue discovery offshore Brazil. The contract expands HAL’s deepwater backlog and demonstrates demand for its integrated oilfield services, though near-term revenue and profit contributions remain unclear. Halliburton Wins BP Contract for Bumerangue Field Appraisal
• Positive Sentiment: Relative strength attracts investor attention: Halliburton finished higher even as the overall market weakened, indicating favorable investor reaction and relative strength. Market coverage identified the BP contract and the stock’s performance versus broader indexes as key developments. Halliburton Rises As Market Takes a Dip: Key Facts
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend remains intact: Halliburton declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, payable September 23 to shareholders of record September 2. The payment supports the stock’s income appeal, but the dividend announcement was expected and is unlikely to materially change valuation. Halliburton Company Dividend Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Analysts generally remain constructive on HAL, providing a supportive backdrop but not a major new catalyst for the stock. Halliburton Given Moderate Buy Recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential lithium-related work: Halliburton is reportedly set to begin test drilling at a lithium site in Cornwall, UK. The project could broaden the company’s technology applications, but it is early-stage and has no clear near-term earnings impact. US Oil Industry Giant to Start Test Drilling at Cornish Lithium Site

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Eighteen 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.10.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $34.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.54. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $21.40 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.60%.

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.