Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 2,166,703 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management sharply increased its Halliburton stake, buying 2,166,703 shares in Q1 and lifting its holdings by 1,375.4% to 2,324,233 shares worth about $90.6 million.
• Halliburton reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting earnings of $0.55 per share versus the $0.50 estimate and revenue of $5.40 billion, slightly above expectations.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.0%, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus price target of $43.27.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 1,375.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,324,233 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after buying an additional 2,166,703 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.28% of Halliburton worth $90,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190,520 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,436,336,000 after purchasing an additional 861,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $878,806,000 after purchasing an additional 443,064 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 9.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 26,004,682 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $639,715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,521,080. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 416,710 shares of company stock worth $16,888,735. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.27.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $33.96 on Thursday. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $20.09 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.69.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

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.

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