Barclays PLC Sells 519,525 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Barclays PLC lessened its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,938,338 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 519,525 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.23% of Halliburton worth $47,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 547.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 111.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $34.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $37.03. The company has a market capitalization of $28.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.14.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on HAL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $1,900,006.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at $12,044,943.60. This represents a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total value of $88,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,849.31. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 331,994 shares of company stock valued at $11,331,187. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About Halliburton

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.