Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,855 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 93,201 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 259.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 166,407 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after buying an additional 120,122 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Halliburton by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 128,001 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 52,933 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at $696,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Halliburton by 81.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,347 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Halliburton by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,384 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $39.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.09 and its 200 day moving average is $37.49. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.84 and a 1 year high of $43.85. 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 (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 23.21%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.53.

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.