HM Payson & Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 19.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,500 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 121,928,734 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,806,431,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 2.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,274,105 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,952,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,618,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 46.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,090,055 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,408,171,000 after acquiring an additional 19,237,784 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,538,783 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $850,927,000 after buying an additional 782,093 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $400,070,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Halliburton stock traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.82. 11,236,984 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,151,642. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.03. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $31.42 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.93.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 29.97%. The firm had revenue of $5.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,481,883.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 283,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,481,883.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,508.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,287 shares of company stock worth $2,298,204. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HAL. UBS Group increased their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Johnson Rice raised Halliburton to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on Halliburton from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.35.

About Halliburton

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.