US Bancorp DE Sells 55,388 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

US Bancorp DE cut its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 33.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,563 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 55,388 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Halliburton during the second quarter worth approximately $109,379,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 85.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $175,490,000 after buying an additional 3,969,759 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 762.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,265,132 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $66,543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,666 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 23.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,154,605 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $249,803,000 after buying an additional 1,906,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Halliburton by 37.7% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 6,625,668 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $135,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814,649 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Zephirin Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.19.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of HAL opened at $35.29 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.91 and its 200-day moving average is $27.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 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. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.03.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors 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 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,538,550. This represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 337,002 shares of company stock valued at $11,445,938 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.