Swiss National Bank Sells 131,100 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Halliburton by 5.0 in Q3, selling 131,100 shares and now holds 2,478,300 shares (about 0.29% of the company) worth roughly $60.97 million.
• Corporate insiders sold heavily over the last quarter — a total of 331,994 shares valued at about $11.33 million (including VP Timothy Mckeon and EVP Van H. Beckwith), while insiders now own 0.56% of the stock.
• Halliburton beat Q4 expectations with $0.69 EPS vs. $0.55 expected and $5.66B revenue, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 (1.9% yield), and analysts have raised price targets leaving a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $35.38 target.

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,478,300 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 131,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Halliburton worth $60,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 547.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 111.9% in the second quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $132,187.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,805,657.47. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction 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 $12,044,943.60. This represents a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 331,994 shares of company stock valued at $11,331,187. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.7%

HAL stock opened at $35.93 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.72 and a 200-day moving average of $28.29. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $37.03. The company has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.04.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 45.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on HAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.38.

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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