Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,729,413 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,564,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HAL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,812,327,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the fourth 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. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Halliburton by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,114,848,000 after buying an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the second quarter worth $345,941,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Halliburton during the second quarter worth $337,486,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP awards Halliburton an integrated Bumerangue contract: Halliburton will provide drilling, reservoir evaluation and digital technologies for BP’s first appraisal campaign at the Bumerangue discovery offshore Brazil. The contract expands HAL’s deepwater backlog and demonstrates demand for its integrated oilfield services, though near-term revenue and profit contributions remain unclear. Halliburton Wins BP Contract for Bumerangue Field Appraisal
• Positive Sentiment: Relative strength attracts investor attention: Halliburton finished higher even as the overall market weakened, indicating favorable investor reaction and relative strength. Market coverage identified the BP contract and the stock’s performance versus broader indexes as key developments. Halliburton Rises As Market Takes a Dip: Key Facts
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend remains intact: Halliburton declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, payable September 23 to shareholders of record September 2. The payment supports the stock’s income appeal, but the dividend announcement was expected and is unlikely to materially change valuation. Halliburton Company Dividend Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Analysts generally remain constructive on HAL, providing a supportive backdrop but not a major new catalyst for the stock. Halliburton Given Moderate Buy Recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential lithium-related work: Halliburton is reportedly set to begin test drilling at a lithium site in Cornwall, UK. The project could broaden the company’s technology applications, but it is early-stage and has no clear near-term earnings impact. US Oil Industry Giant to Start Test Drilling at Cornish Lithium Site

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. This represents a 30.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $34.40 on Thursday. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $21.40 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The company has a market capitalization of $28.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Capital One Financial raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Argus lowered their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upgraded Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.10.

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.