HM Payson & Co. Sells 14,723 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 55.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,677 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 14,723 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 152,741 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,437,000 after acquiring an additional 6,258 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,889,257 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $83,933,000 after acquiring an additional 63,994 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 55,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,498 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 2,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 91,046 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 12,896 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $25.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $41.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.49.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Griffin Securities lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.42.

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.