Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon cut its Halliburton stake by 8% in the first quarter, but still held more than 6.0 million shares worth about $234.3 million at the end of the period.
• Halliburton has been winning business momentum from Saudi Aramco contracts, including work tied to the Jafurah gas project and a large multi-year well campaign, which could support future backlog and international growth.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations for the quarter and continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, though some insiders and analysts have shown mixed signals on the stock.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,008,985 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 524,989 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.72% of Halliburton worth $234,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HAL. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.27.

Halliburton News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton won multiple multi-year Saudi Aramco contracts, including work tied to the Jafurah gas project and a 285-well campaign, expanding its footprint in a key growth market. Halliburton Lands Aramco Deal for Saudi Arabia's Jafurah Gas Project
• Positive Sentiment: Offshore and industry coverage pointed to Halliburton “reaping rewards” from Aramco-led awards, reinforcing expectations for stronger international activity and backlog growth. Deals of the week: Halliburton reaps rewards as Aramco leads the prizegiving
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also highlighted Halliburton’s deepwater momentum, suggesting continued strength in activity trends beyond Saudi Arabia. Halliburton NYSE: HAL Gains on Deepwater Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton is nearing its Q2 earnings report, with investors watching for signs that stronger completion and drilling activity offset Middle East disruptions and higher costs. Halliburton Set to Report Q2 Earnings: Key Things To Watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage from MarketWatch and other outlets largely reiterated the Aramco contract news, which keeps the market focused on backlog and project execution rather than a new catalyst. Halliburton Gets Aramco Contracts for Saudi Oil Wells

Halliburton Stock Up 0.6%

HAL opened at $35.24 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $20.17 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.28. 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 company has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.71.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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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