B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Trims Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its Halliburton stake by 23.5% in the second quarter, selling 45,754 shares and retaining 149,267 shares valued at approximately $5.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.23% of Halliburton.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 18 Buy ratings, six Holds and one Sell; the stock has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $43.10.
• Halliburton exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.55 in EPS and $5.71 billion in revenue, up 3.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, representing a 1.8% annualized yield.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,267 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 45,754 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 8,497 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the second quarter valued at $367,000. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth about $202,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,298,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.10.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $1,844,751.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.8%

HAL stock opened at $37.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $21.40 and a 12 month high of $43.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.63.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.60%.

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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