Opal Capital LLC Invests $1.25 Million in Halliburton Company $HAL

Opal Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 31,956 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,246,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Halliburton by 128.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $89,077,000 after buying an additional 1,286,095 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,195,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $827,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 172.6% in the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after acquiring an additional 69,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 373,949 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after acquiring an additional 67,369 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on HAL. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. HSBC upped their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus lowered their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their target price on Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $31.27 on Wednesday. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $20.39 and a 12-month high of $43.59. The company has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 35.60%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $363,510.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 72,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,064,992. This trade represents a 10.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.