Brandes Investment Partners LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,548,930 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,005 shares during the quarter. Halliburton comprises approximately 1.6% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $213,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 42,087 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 16,995 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 89,400 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,526,000 after acquiring an additional 29,900 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth $257,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 29,473 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 5,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 369,325 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $10,437,000 after acquiring an additional 58,530 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $6,338,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,521,080. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 416,991 shares of company stock worth $16,846,948. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of HAL stock opened at $39.60 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $33.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.69. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $20.09 and a twelve month high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.27.

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.