Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Buys 39,453 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its Halliburton stake by 14.5% in the first quarter, buying 39,453 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 310,629 shares worth about $12.1 million.
• Halliburton reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.50 consensus and revenue of $5.40 billion versus $5.37 billion expected.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.1%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $43.27.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 310,629 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,453 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Halliburton were worth $12,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL opened at $33.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.79. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $20.17 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The company has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on HAL shares. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Capital One Financial raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. HSBC lifted their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. The trade was a 57.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. This represents a 17.83% 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 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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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