Board of the Pension Protection Fund Makes New Investment in Halliburton Company $HAL

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,100 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 547.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 111.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 94.8% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $27.71 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $18.72 and a 1 year high of $30.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35 and a beta of 0.81. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.66.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. Halliburton had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 5.91%.The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $32.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zephirin Group boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 price target on Halliburton in a report on Monday. Finally, Rothschild Redb raised Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total value of $246,938.06. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $4,443,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 452,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,562,425.98. The trade was a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton 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.