Opal Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 31,956 Halliburton Company $HAL

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $841,339,000 after acquiring an additional 29,735,387 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Halliburton by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $169,304,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 12,413.2% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,163,259 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $162,325,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $158,525,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction 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 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 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL 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 stock has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.60%.

Halliburton 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.