Bleakley Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,035 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 1,930 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Halliburton by 5.3% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,643 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its stake in Halliburton by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 37,010 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 1.2% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 22,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 3.6% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,605 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 2.3% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,972 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $39.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.47. 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 12 month low of $27.84 and a 12 month high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. Halliburton’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 company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on HAL shares. StockNews.com cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Atb Cap Markets cut Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.