Ethos Financial Group LLC Invests $460,000 in Halliburton Company $HAL

Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,265 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HAL. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares in the company, valued at $38,499,455.28. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total transaction of $88,842.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,849.31. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 415,508 shares of company stock valued at $15,291,882. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Capital One Financial increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.05.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $37.82 on Tuesday. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $41.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $31.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.24.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. 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.