AGP Franklin LLC Takes Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• AGP Franklin LLC opened a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter, buying 30,205 shares valued at about $1.18 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets on Halliburton recently, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $43.27.
• Halliburton reported quarterly earnings of $0.55 per share, beating estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share payable June 24.

AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,205 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,178,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at $31,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of Halliburton 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. The trade was a 57.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 416,710 shares of company stock worth $16,888,735. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.27.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.5%

HAL stock opened at $35.11 on Tuesday. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $20.09 and a 12 month high of $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during 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 firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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