Board of the Pension Protection Fund Buys 17,600 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Board of the Pension Protection Fund lifted its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 43.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,700 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 17,600 shares during the period. Halliburton makes up approximately 1.6% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $36.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.79. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $37.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,600 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total value of $88,842.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,849.31. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 357,053 shares of company stock valued at $12,178,682 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zephirin Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.38.

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.