Insider Selling: Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) EVP Sells 198,349 Shares of Stock

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) EVP Van Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $42.76. 12,069,489 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,840,956. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.24 and its 200 day moving average is $33.16. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $19.38 and a 52 week high of $42.93.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HAL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised shares of Halliburton from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Griffin Securities upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 10.2% in the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,794 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,456 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,312 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,320 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,363 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.