Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 32,392 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 1.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,383,968 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 32,392 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $58,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,363,599 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,147,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617,696 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,287,989 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $617,269,000 after purchasing an additional 346,218 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,342,963 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $453,461,000 after buying an additional 92,549 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 10.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,903,833 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $242,600,000 after buying an additional 1,089,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 23.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,154,605 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $249,803,000 after buying an additional 1,906,724 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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: BMO raised its price target on HAL from $31 to $36 (maintains Market Perform), signaling analyst confidence in near-term upside. BMO price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Management says Halliburton expects a swift return to Venezuela and is downplaying geopolitical risk — this implies potential new revenue opportunities if sanctions/entry barriers ease. FT: speedy return to Venezuela
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of the same topic highlights management optimism about Venezuela re-entry, reinforcing the potential upside case for international revenue growth. OilPrice: return to Venezuela
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and previews expect Halliburton to beat Q4 estimates, supporting the stock’s stronger momentum into earnings season. Zacks earnings preview
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton promoted Casey Maxwell to President, Western Hemisphere — an operational leadership move that may be viewed positively for regional execution (Permian/Argentina experience). BusinessWire: Maxwell promotion
• Positive Sentiment: Stock recently hit a 52-week high, reflecting strong price momentum that could attract momentum-driven buyers ahead of earnings. Investing.com: 52-week high
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider / large-holder activity: a reported sale by Rep. Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. — routine disclosure that can add short-term supply but not necessarily signal operational issues. AmericanBankingNews: insider sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Reminder: Halliburton will release quarterly results soon — earnings will likely be the primary near-term catalyst and could amplify moves in either direction. Earnings release notice
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: a former Halliburton executive alleges discriminatory dismissal and seeks $375M in claims — a potential headline and litigation exposure that could weigh on sentiment if it escalates. Punch: discrimination claim

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HAL shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $32.00 target price on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. HSBC set a $30.00 price target on Halliburton and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Halliburton from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.57.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $32.79 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $18.72 and a 1-year high of $33.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 0.78.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 5.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 45.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,538,550. This trade represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $246,938.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at $9,302,095.92. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 268,854 shares of company stock valued at $7,915,138. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.