Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 148,132 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 289.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,391 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 148,132 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $7,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $1,054,000. QV Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,195,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $827,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 373,949 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after buying an additional 67,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 172.6% during the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after buying an additional 69,644 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

More Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton won a multiyear, multibillion-dollar contract from Saudi Aramco to provide integrated stimulation and completion services for a major unconventional gas development in Saudi Arabia, a significant revenue opportunity that reinforces demand for its core oilfield services. Aramco Awards Halliburton Long-Term Contract for Unconventional Gas Program
• Positive Sentiment: The company also secured a long-term drilling and completions contract for TotalEnergies’ GranMorgu offshore Suriname project, adding to expectations for stronger future backlog and international growth. Halliburton Wins Contract for TotalEnergies’ Offshore Suriname Project
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted Halliburton as one of the oilfield-services names that still looks attractively valued after recent volatility, with higher oil prices and sector momentum potentially supporting sentiment. Fresh U.S.-Iran Conflicts Could Extend Energy Rally: 2 Bargains Remain
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton is also drawing attention from Ghana’s Petroleum Commission for support related to future oil workforce development, which is positive for the company’s regional relationships but not likely to move earnings near term. Petroleum Commission secures Halliburton support for Ghana’s future oil workforce
• Negative Sentiment: Bigger-picture energy-sector weakness and analyst warnings about near-term uncertainty in oilfield services are weighing on the group, limiting how far HAL can rally on the contract news alone. Oilfield Services Sector Faces Near-Term Uncertainty; Q2 Season to Be ‘Tricky,’ BofA Securities Says
• Negative Sentiment: Energy stocks were broadly weaker in Wednesday trading, creating a sector-level headwind for Halliburton despite its company-specific contract wins. Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Wednesday Afternoon

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HAL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC increased their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. This represents a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% 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 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.4%

Halliburton stock opened at $35.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.71. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.17 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.24. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 37.36%.

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.