53,000 Shares in Halliburton Company $HAL Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group bought a new stake of 53,000 Halliburton shares in Q3, valued at about $1.304 million, according to its recent Form 13F filing.
• Other large institutional moves included Strive Asset Management adding a new ~ $418.7 million position, Norges Bank buying ~ $109.4 million, and AQR boosting holdings by 85.5% (adding ~3.97 million shares); hedge funds and other institutions now own 85.23% of Halliburton.
• Insiders sold 331,994 shares worth roughly $11.33 million in the last quarter (insiders own 0.56%), and the company recently announced a $0.17 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.68, ~1.9% yield).

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 53,000 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,304,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $418,738,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth approximately $109,379,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 85.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $175,490,000 after buying an additional 3,969,759 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Halliburton by 762.7% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,265,132 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $66,543,000 after buying an additional 2,886,666 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 23.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,154,605 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $249,803,000 after buying an additional 1,906,724 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $132,187.02. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,805,657.47. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 331,994 shares of company stock valued at $11,331,187 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of HAL opened at $35.93 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average is $33.72 and its 200 day moving average is $28.29. The company has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.73. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $37.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton's payout ratio is 45.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HAL. Argus increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.38.

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.

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