Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,474,135 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 59,754 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $36,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at $1,775,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,595,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $145,860,000 after purchasing an additional 96,394 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 12.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $40,480,000 after purchasing an additional 186,105 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 7.5% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 539,079 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $11,132,000 after buying an additional 37,512 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,101,243 shares in the company, valued at $38,499,455.28. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,538,550. This represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 497,002 shares of company stock worth $15,889,138. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Capital One Financial increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC set a $30.00 price objective on Halliburton and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Halliburton from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.76.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of HAL stock opened at $32.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.83. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $35.55.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 45.03%.

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.