Halliburton Company $HAL Stock Position Lowered by Discerene Group LP

Discerene Group LP decreased its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,248,484 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 62,930 shares during the quarter. Halliburton comprises approximately 2.6% of Discerene Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Discerene Group LP owned approximately 0.15% of Halliburton worth $30,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on HAL. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zephirin Group cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.19.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $34.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.73. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.30 and a 200-day moving average of $27.95. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $18.72 and a 52 week high of $37.03.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,538,550. This trade represents a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,455.28. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 328,148 shares of company stock worth $11,199,000 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% 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.