Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) EVP Van Beckwith Sells 54,348 Shares

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) EVP Van Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $1,900,006.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,044,943.60. This trade represents a 13.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $34.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $35.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.42. The firm has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63 and a beta of 0.78.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The company had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zephirin Group cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday. Argus upped their price target on Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.57.

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.