Saxon Interests Inc. Makes New Investment in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Saxon Interests Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 25,228 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,066,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 59,266 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.42. The stock had a trading volume of 5,828,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,877,908. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.84 and a twelve month high of $43.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.99.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. Halliburton’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.63.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.