Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Key Points

• Capital World Investors trimmed its Halliburton stake by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 752,498 shares and leaving it with 12.99 million shares valued at about $367 million.
• Halliburton reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.55 versus $0.50 expected and revenue of $5.40 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of $43.27.

Capital World Investors cut its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,987,123 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 752,498 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 1.55% of Halliburton worth $367,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 243.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 77,742 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,197,000 after acquiring an additional 55,114 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 186,310 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 23,065 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $103,000. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 108,397 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $3,063,000 after acquiring an additional 67,343 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $20.09 and a 12 month high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.Halliburton's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,064,992. This trade represents a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 416,991 shares of company stock valued at $16,846,948 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Griffin Securities raised Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised Halliburton from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.27.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HAL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.