Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) VP Sells $132,187.02 in Stock

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total transaction of $132,187.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,805,657.47. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:HAL traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $34.63. 9,384,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,592,260. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.05. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $37.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $29.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released 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. The company had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Halliburton by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $145,860,000 after acquiring an additional 96,394 shares during the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 98.8% in the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 134,365 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 66,765 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,775,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 12.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $40,480,000 after purchasing an additional 186,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth $1,010,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.38.

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.