Guinness Asset Management LTD Boosts Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244,748 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 34,202 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $6,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,080,922 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $171,847,000 after buying an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $309,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $498,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 163.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 20,295 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 12,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Griffin Securities raised shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Capital One Financial raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Eighteen investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.86.

Key Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, signaling continued capital returns to shareholders and reinforcing management’s confidence in cash generation. Halliburton Announces Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Jeff Miller joining Noble Corporation’s board may be seen as a vote of confidence in Halliburton’s leadership and industry standing, while also highlighting Miller’s influence across the offshore drilling sector. Noble Corporation plc Announces New Director Appointment
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles focused on Halliburton’s Russell 1000 filing and broader market commentary are drawing fresh attention to the name, but they do not appear to change the company’s fundamentals on their own. Halliburton Russell 1000 Filing Raises Fresh Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent notes from analysts and market outlets highlight that HAL has been up since its last earnings report, suggesting investor sentiment remains constructive after the company beat quarterly EPS estimates and slightly topped revenue expectations. Halliburton (HAL) Up 8.2% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?

Halliburton Stock Down 1.1%

HAL opened at $41.50 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $19.42 and a fifty-two week high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $363,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,064,992. This represents a 10.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,230. The trade was a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 420,837 shares of company stock worth $16,979,135. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.