Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 66,582 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Azzad Asset Management cut its Halliburton stake by 34% in the first quarter, selling 66,582 shares and leaving it with 129,161 shares worth about $5.0 million.
• Halliburton reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.50 estimate and revenue of $5.40 billion, slightly ahead of forecasts.
• The company remains active with analyst support and strategic wins, including new oilfield work in Iraq and a first-of-its-kind automation deployment with Eni, while Wall Street’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $43.18.

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 34.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,161 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 66,582 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 268,861 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $10,497,000 after buying an additional 8,714 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $766,000. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 22.8% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,391 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $521,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $34.15 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $20.17 and a one year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $38.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.71.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $363,510.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 valued at $10,550,535. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton announced an industry-first deployment of LOGIX automation and remote operations with Eni on a deepwater exploration well offshore Indonesia, highlighting progress in closed-loop drilling automation and strengthening its technology leadership. Eni and Halliburton Achieve Industry First With Closed-Loop Rig Automation in Deepwater Indonesia
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton landed a key oilfield contract in Iraq to help develop the Bin Umar and Sindbad fields, which could support future production growth and deepen its international footprint. Halliburton Lands Key Iraq Oilfield Deal to Boost Production
• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Halliburton while maintaining a Neutral view, and Susquehanna reiterated a Positive rating despite trimming its target, signaling continued analyst confidence in the stock’s upside. UBS Lifts Price Target on Halliburton (HAL), Reaffirms Neutral Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Wolfe Research began coverage of Halliburton with a Peer Perform rating, indicating the shares may be fairly valued relative to peers rather than clearly undervalued. Halliburton (HAL) Gets a Buy from RBC Capital
• Negative Sentiment: The death of long-serving director Abdulaziz F. Al Khayyal removes an experienced board member with audit and safety oversight background, which may raise governance and risk-management questions for investors. What Does HAL’s Board Loss Mean for Its Governance and Risk Oversight Story?
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research rated Halliburton only Peer Perform while favoring other oilfield services names, suggesting the firm may not be the best-positioned stock in the sector right now. Wolfe Research bullish on SLB and BKR, sees selective oil services cycle ahead

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zephirin Group upped their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.18.

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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