Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Decreases Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 325,085 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 43,590 shares during the period. Halliburton comprises 1.3% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $11,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Halliburton by 271.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 768,057 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $27,781,000 after purchasing an additional 561,020 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $344,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 13.1% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,037,646 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $82,525,000 after buying an additional 235,906 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,342,520 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $135,372,000 after buying an additional 44,901 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,869,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HAL. Atb Cap Markets lowered Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.53.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Halliburton stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.24. 4,624,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,264,205. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.84 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $36.61 and its 200-day moving average is $37.47.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.