Board of the Pension Protection Fund Invests $986,000 in Halliburton Company $HAL

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 40,100 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,772,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 527.9% in the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 130,104 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 109,384 shares in the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.6% in the first quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 380,338 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $9,649,000 after purchasing an additional 13,323 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, CW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth $427,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HAL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Halliburton from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. HSBC set a $30.00 price objective on Halliburton and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zephirin Group lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total value of $246,938.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 333,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $4,443,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 452,374 shares in the company, valued at $12,562,425.98. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE HAL opened at $27.71 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $30.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.54 and its 200-day moving average is $23.66.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 5.91%.Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.