Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 121,148 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Brandes Investment Partners LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,606,673 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 121,148 shares during the quarter. Halliburton comprises about 1.4% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.52% of Halliburton worth $125,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Halliburton by 5.3% during the third 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 during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 34.2% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,169,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,622 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $253,646.04. This represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,603 shares of company stock valued at $4,041,695. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $25.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.29. 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 fifty-two week low of $23.42 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.42.

Halliburton Company 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.