Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,005,076 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,973 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $39,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its position in Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter worth $31,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Argus increased their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:HAL opened at $35.24 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.17 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.71. 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 data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.36%.

More Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton won multiple multi-year Saudi Aramco contracts, including work tied to the Jafurah gas project and a 285-well campaign, expanding its footprint in a key growth market. Halliburton Lands Aramco Deal for Saudi Arabia’s Jafurah Gas Project
• Positive Sentiment: Offshore and industry coverage pointed to Halliburton “reaping rewards” from Aramco-led awards, reinforcing expectations for stronger international activity and backlog growth. Deals of the week: Halliburton reaps rewards as Aramco leads the prizegiving
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also highlighted Halliburton’s deepwater momentum, suggesting continued strength in activity trends beyond Saudi Arabia. Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Gains on Deepwater Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton is nearing its Q2 earnings report, with investors watching for signs that stronger completion and drilling activity offset Middle East disruptions and higher costs. Halliburton Set to Report Q2 Earnings: Key Things To Watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage from MarketWatch and other outlets largely reiterated the Aramco contract news, which keeps the market focused on backlog and project execution rather than a new catalyst. Halliburton Gets Aramco Contracts for Saudi Oil Wells

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.