New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $40.48 Million Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 12.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 186,105 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $40,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 547.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 111.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.4%

HAL stock opened at $33.52 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $35.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.72 and its 200 day moving average is $25.69. The company has a market capitalization of $28.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.76.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,499,455.28. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $4,443,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 452,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,562,425.98. This trade represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 497,002 shares of company stock valued at $15,889,138 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.