Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Sold by Leonteq Securities AG

Key Points

• Leonteq Securities AG cut its Halliburton stake by 83.8% in the first quarter, selling 146,725 shares and leaving it with 28,432 shares worth about $1.11 million.
• Halliburton insiders have also been selling: CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares, and Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares, bringing total insider sales to 258,255 shares over the last three months.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with multiple firms raising price targets; Halliburton has a Moderate Buy consensus and a $43.32 average price target, while the stock last traded at $32.98.

Leonteq Securities AG lowered its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 83.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,432 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 146,725 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG's holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth about $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on HAL shares. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Griffin Securities upgraded Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Eighteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.32.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $32.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $20.17 and a 12-month high of $43.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.80. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 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 company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Halliburton's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 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 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

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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