The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 64.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 536,114 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 968,158 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $20,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 6,364.7% during the 1st quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,099 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton News Roundup

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

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total transaction of $8,189,830.21. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 243,475 shares of company stock worth $9,931,490 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $32.22 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HAL. Griffin Securities upgraded Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. 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. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

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.