AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Cuts Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 42.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 650,295 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 481,300 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.08% of Halliburton worth $15,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,369 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Halliburton by 7.3% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 7,374 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Halliburton by 3.3% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 16,390 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 4.3% during the second quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,590 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 22,307 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE HAL opened at $33.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.78. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $35.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $1,900,006.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,044,943.60. This represents a 13.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares in the company, valued at $38,499,455.28. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 497,002 shares of company stock worth $15,889,138 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC set a $30.00 price target on shares of Halliburton and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.57.

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.