Insider Selling: Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) CEO Sells $5,985,152.00 in Stock

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,455.28. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Halliburton Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $33.39 on Thursday. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $35.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.55. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.78. 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) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.03%.

More Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results topped expectations (EPS $0.69 vs. $0.55 consensus; revenue $5.66B vs. $5.39B), reinforcing the recovery narrative and giving analysts reason to raise targets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets (examples cited include TD Cowen, Capital One, UBS and a separate $39 target) are supporting near?term upside and investor sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic R&D push — Halliburton and A*STAR launched Singapore’s S$35M NEX Lab to accelerate well?completion tech and low?carbon innovations, which may improve long?term differentiation and service demand. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?term momentum: HAL gained roughly 4.2% over the past week, reflecting the earnings beat and upgrades, but past momentum is not a guarantee of continuation. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/context pieces (comparisons to peers like CLB and notes on large institutional ownership) offer useful framing for longer?term investors but are not immediate catalysts. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Material insider selling by senior executives could create near?term selling pressure or signal management liquidity needs: CEO Jeffrey Miller reportedly sold 171,200 shares; EVP Van Beckwith sold 54,348 shares; Director Margaret K. Banks sold 2,600 shares. Investors watch large executive sales even when fundamentals are positive. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~23.6% in January to ~32.5M shares (about 3.9% of shares outstanding; ~1.8 days to cover). That uptick reflects increased bearish positioning and can add downward pressure to the share price while also raising volatility risk.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zephirin Group lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HSBC set a $30.00 price target on Halliburton and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 7.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 5,370 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,320 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 16,789 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,434 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 22.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,369 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently 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.