Simplicity Solutions LLC Sells 1,930 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Simplicity Solutions LLC cut its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,035 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 1,930 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $457,245,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 123.0% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 15,936,342 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $627,088,000 after buying an additional 8,791,319 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 65.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,217,776 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $677,520,000 after buying an additional 6,815,373 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 140.4% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,737,112 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $118,242,000 after buying an additional 2,182,602 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth about $68,873,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 other 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.53.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $38.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $27.84 and a 52-week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current 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 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.