Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Makes New $3.21 Million Investment in Halliburton Company $HAL

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 82,440 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,214,000. Halliburton comprises 1.5% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Capital One Financial boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $31.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.71. 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 Company has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.27 and a 200-day moving average of $36.49.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 243,475 shares of company stock valued at $9,931,490 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.