Halliburton Company $HAL is Discerene Group LP's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Discerene Group LP cut its Halliburton stake by 9% in the first quarter, but HAL remains its 7th-largest holding, making up about 4.1% of the portfolio.
• Halliburton reported Q2 earnings and revenue above estimates, with EPS of $0.55 on revenue of $5.71 billion, while also benefiting from new contract wins in Iraq and Kuwait.
• Analysts remain generally constructive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $43.14, even as some firms trimmed targets and insider selling continued in recent months.

Discerene Group LP decreased its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 993,920 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 98,324 shares during the quarter. Halliburton comprises about 4.1% of Discerene Group LP's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Discerene Group LP owned approximately 0.12% of Halliburton worth $38,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $169,304,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 12,413.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,129,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $158,525,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:HAL opened at $33.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.71. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.39 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The company's fifty day moving average price is $36.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's payout ratio is 35.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $43.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.14.

Key Headlines Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton reported Q2 revenue of $5.71 billion and EPS of $0.55, both modestly ahead of expectations, reinforcing that core business performance remains solid. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company won a new integrated field development contract with Basra Oil Company in Iraq, adding another large international project and expanding its presence in a key oil-producing region. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton also secured additional development work in Kuwait, reinforcing the view that recent contract wins are improving its growth outlook and supporting its international business mix. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces pointed to a stronger long-term outlook thanks to Halliburton’s technology edge and global contract pipeline, but also noted that geopolitical risk and uneven execution could limit near-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen reportedly lowered expectations for Halliburton, and other firms trimmed price targets, suggesting analysts remain cautious even as the stock benefits from new business wins.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts and mixed sentiment may cap enthusiasm if investors worry that recent contract wins are not enough to quickly reaccelerate margins or earnings growth.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total transaction of $8,189,830.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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