Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Takes Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Adams Diversified Equity Fund opened a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter, buying 303,500 shares valued at about $11.8 million.
• Halliburton recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.55 per share, beating estimates, while revenue came in at $5.40 billion, slightly above expectations.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on HAL, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $43.27, even as insiders have been selling shares in recent months.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 303,500 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $11,833,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,456 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,312 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,320 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,363 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 22,517 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $34.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $20.09 and a one year high of $43.59. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $39.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.69.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Halliburton's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's payout ratio is 37.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on HAL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Griffin Securities upgraded Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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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