Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 2,288 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lessened its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,862 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 2,288 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 53,246,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,669,796,000 after acquiring an additional 12,006,012 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 60.4% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,746,026 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $215,328,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294,360 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 389.1% in the third quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 3,609,660 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $88,870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,871,705 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 5,988,632 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $187,804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408,261 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 1,348.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,237,800 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $70,177,000 after buying an additional 2,083,346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Halliburton from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Halliburton in a report on Friday, December 9th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $182,967.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 245,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,468,140.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total value of $107,409.51. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $182,967.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 245,731 shares in the company, valued at $10,468,140.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,878 shares of company stock valued at $1,763,947. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $29.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 2.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.24 and its 200 day moving average is $35.32. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $23.30 and a fifty-two week high of $43.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The oilfield services company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

Halliburton Company Profile

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Halliburton Co engages in the provision of services and products to the energy industry related to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation segments. The Completion and Production segment delivers cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, specialty chemicals, artificial lift, and completion services.