94,520 Shares in Halliburton Company $HAL Acquired by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Halliburton, buying 94,520 shares valued at about $3.685 million.
• Insider selling has been notable: CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller and EVP Van H. Beckwith sold shares, with insiders selling 391,932 shares worth roughly $16.0 million over the last 90 days.
• Halliburton’s latest results beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.55 versus $0.50 expected and revenue of $5.40 billion; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 94,520 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $3,685,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised 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 buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $6,338,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,013,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,521,080. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% 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 have sold 391,932 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,453 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HAL. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.27.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of HAL stock opened at $34.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.45. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $20.09 and a twelve month high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.36%.

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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