Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Purchased by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its Halliburton stake by 86.4% in the first quarter, while other large institutional investors also increased or initiated positions. Institutional ownership remains high at 85.23%.
• Wall Street sentiment on Halliburton is generally positive, with multiple analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The average target price is $43.27.
• Halliburton reported quarterly EPS of $0.55, topping estimates, and declared a $0.17 per share quarterly dividend. However, insiders sold shares during the quarter, including CFO Eric Carre and VP Timothy Mckeon.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 86.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,446 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after buying an additional 48,876 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Halliburton were worth $4,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Halliburton by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,239,349,000 after purchasing an additional 40,969,139 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in 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 worth $841,339,000 after acquiring an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter valued at $418,738,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $169,304,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $147,315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore increased their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $363,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,064,992. This trade represents a 10.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% 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. Insiders sold 416,710 shares of company stock valued at $16,888,735 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $35.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $20.09 and a fifty-two week high of $43.59. The stock's 50-day moving average is $39.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.51. The firm has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.70.

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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

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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