Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management opened a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter, buying 586,599 shares worth about $16.6 million.
• Halliburton’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with earnings of $0.55 per share versus $0.50 expected and revenue of $5.40 billion, while analysts now see full-year EPS of 2.34.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, payable June 24, which annualizes to $0.68 and yields about 1.7%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 586,599 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $16,577,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Halliburton as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 20,583 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 309.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 52,092 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth $895,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Eighteen 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 data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.27.

Halliburton Stock Up 3.2%

Halliburton stock opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.70. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.09 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate 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, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of Halliburton 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 transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $363,510.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 416,991 shares of company stock worth $16,846,948. Corporate 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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