Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 54.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,936,378 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 2,447,831 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.83% of Halliburton worth $196,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Halliburton by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,239,349,000 after buying an additional 40,969,139 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $841,339,000 after buying an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $418,738,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $169,304,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $147,315,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. HSBC increased their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.27.

Halliburton Stock Down 2.2%

Halliburton stock opened at $39.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.69. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.09 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.36%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president owned 72,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,064,992. This trade represents a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 416,991 shares of company stock valued at $16,846,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.