Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Buys 41,765 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 24.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 210,801 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,765 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Halliburton by 547.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on Halliburton from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.38.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total transaction of $88,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,043 shares in the company, valued at $479,849.31. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $132,187.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at $2,805,657.47. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 331,994 shares of company stock worth $11,331,187. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $34.15 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.59. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $18.72 and a 1 year high of $37.03. The company has a market capitalization of $28.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

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.