Halliburton Company $HAL Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,364,523 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 377,960 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.99% of Halliburton worth $205,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 20,583 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 10,408 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 309.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 52,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $895,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on HAL. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Halliburton from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Zephirin Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.1%

HAL stock opened at $34.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.73. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.00.

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 for 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 quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction 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 $13,538,550. This represents a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 328,148 shares of company stock valued at $11,199,000 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.