Bank of America Corp DE Sells 3,839,227 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its Halliburton stake by 41.5%, selling 3.84 million shares in the first quarter while retaining 5.41 million shares valued at approximately $210.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 85.23%, with several major investors—including Capital Research Global Investors and Northwestern Mutual—significantly increasing their positions.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $43.10 target price. Halliburton recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.55 in EPS and $5.71 billion in revenue.

Bank of America Corp DE cut its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 41.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,408,088 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 3,839,227 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.65% of Halliburton worth $210,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $169,304,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Halliburton by 12,413.2% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,163,259 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $162,325,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at approximately $158,525,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HAL. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Halliburton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Freedom Capital raised shares of Halliburton from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zephirin Group upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% 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. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $32.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.02. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.51 and a 200-day moving average of $36.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.60%.

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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