TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Sells 255,900 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lowered its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 66.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 131,709 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 255,900 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,775,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter valued at $2,595,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Halliburton by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 539,079 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $11,132,000 after purchasing an additional 37,512 shares during the period. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 892,748 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $18,194,000 after purchasing an additional 68,199 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction 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 approximately $38,499,455.28. The trade was a 13.45% 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 497,002 shares of company stock valued at $15,889,138. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.76.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.4%

Halliburton 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 company has a market capitalization of $28.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.72. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

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.