Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,051,925 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 20,600 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $41,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton by 42.8% during the first quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 12,850 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 3,852 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Halliburton by 59.2% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 402,064 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $15,676,000 after purchasing an additional 149,452 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 128.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $89,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 601,359 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $23,447,000 after purchasing an additional 222,870 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton reported Q2 revenue of $5.71 billion and EPS of $0.55, both modestly ahead of expectations, reinforcing that core business performance remains solid. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company won a new integrated field development contract with Basra Oil Company in Iraq, adding another large international project and expanding its presence in a key oil-producing region. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton also secured additional development work in Kuwait, reinforcing the view that recent contract wins are improving its growth outlook and supporting its international business mix. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces pointed to a stronger long-term outlook thanks to Halliburton’s technology edge and global contract pipeline, but also noted that geopolitical risk and uneven execution could limit near-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen reportedly lowered expectations for Halliburton, and other firms trimmed price targets, suggesting analysts remain cautious even as the stock benefits from new business wins.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts and mixed sentiment may cap enthusiasm if investors worry that recent contract wins are not enough to quickly reaccelerate margins or earnings growth.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $33.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.94 and a 200 day moving average of $36.45. The company has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $20.39 and a 12-month high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 35.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Griffin Securities upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.14.

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.