Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its Halliburton stake by 16.0%, selling 102,617 shares and leaving it with 539,729 shares worth about $13.28 million (≈0.06% of the company).
• Halliburton beat Q4 expectations, reporting $0.69 EPS vs. $0.55 expected and $5.66B revenue vs. $5.39B expected; analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target near $35.38 and the stock trading around $34.11.
• Significant insider selling occurred (328,148 shares worth ~$11.2M in the last quarter, including two EVP sales), while the company also declared a $0.17 quarterly dividend (2.0% yield).

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 539,729 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 102,617 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.06% of Halliburton worth $13,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $418,738,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,379,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 85.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $175,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,759 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 762.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,265,132 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $66,543,000 after buying an additional 2,886,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,154,605 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $249,803,000 after buying an additional 1,906,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,538,550. This trade represents a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $1,900,006.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 344,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,044,943.60. The trade was a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 328,148 shares of company stock worth $11,199,000 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.38.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $34.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.73. The business's fifty day moving average price is $33.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $37.03.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

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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