We're trimming this oil stock after it climbed more than 50% over the past 3 months

Published Mon, Dec 5 202210:55 AM ESTUpdated Mon, Dec 5 202211:09 AM EST

We're selling 300 shares of Halliburton (HAL) at roughly $38.45 a share. Following Monday's trade, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 2,225 shares of Halliburton, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to about 3% from 3.38%. Energy stocks were early outperformers Monday, trading slightly higher at the initial open despite broad weakness in equity markets. Energy stocks initially followed oil prices higher after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its oil producing allies, known as OPEC+, held their production targets steady as the European Union implemented a ban on Russian crude and the G7 imposed a price cap. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude — the U.S. oil benchmark — has climbed more than 5% over the past week, trading at roughly $81 a barrel in midmorning trading Monday. The price rise has also been aided by increased investor optimism around China moving to reopen its economy after nearly three years of Covid-19 restrictions. The recent rally in oil has been positive for the Club's four energy positions: Devon Energy (DVN), Coterra Energy (CTRA), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), and Halliburton (HAL). The latter stock in particular has climbed significantly over the past few months, rallying from roughly $25 a share in late September, to $38.45 a share as of Monday morning. Given the magnitude of this move, we're trimming our position and downgrading the stock to a 2, meaning we would be buyers again on a pullback. This trim will lock in a gain of less than 1% on stock purchased in March 2022. However, this sale does not reflect a change in our positive long-term view on the oil field services company. We believe there is a need for more oil drilling globally to reverse years of structural underinvestment. Strong demand for Halliburton's oil services has translated into an extremely tight equipment market, which provided the company with a significant amount of pricing power. Additionally, Halliburton's efforts to reduce its cost structure during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic mean it's on track to further expand operating margins and generate higher levels of free cash flow in the future. Lastly, this trim is consistent with our discipline of selling some stock when the market is indicated overbought, according to the S & P Oscillator . Following Friday's session, the Oscillator moved to 5.38