Groupe la Francaise Acquires New Shares in Halliburton Company $HAL

Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 210,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,191,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $5,891,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at about $290,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,838,000. Finally, Kensington Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,214,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beetaloo Energy to support a proposed gas-to-power project linked to an artificial-intelligence data center in Australia’s Northern Territory. The opportunity could create future work in drilling, production and energy infrastructure, although it is not yet a firm contract. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” recommendation for HAL, offering some support after the stock’s recent weakness. Halliburton consensus recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton stock rose in the latest session but continued to underperform the broader market, indicating that investors remain cautious despite the recent bounce. MarketWatch stock performance article
• Negative Sentiment: UBS said Halliburton’s soft third-quarter guidance is weighing on the stock. The cautious outlook raises concerns about weaker oilfield-services demand, pricing or international activity in the near term. UBS Halliburton outlook article

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total transaction of $8,189,830.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,475 shares of company stock worth $9,931,490. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $32.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.46. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $20.39 and a twelve month high of $43.59. The company has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.10.

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.