Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 1,400 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,850 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 274.9% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 273,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,066,119. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $31.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.61. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $30.31 and a 52 week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The company had revenue of $5.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HAL. Barclays reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.35.

Halliburton Profile

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.