Van ECK Associates Corp Has $98.83 Million Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,017,348 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 421,394 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $98,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,239,349,000 after buying an additional 40,969,139 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at approximately $418,738,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth $109,379,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 85.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $175,490,000 after buying an additional 3,969,759 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 762.7% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,265,132 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $66,543,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886,666 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $1,900,006.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,044,943.60. This trade represents a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,499,455.28. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 331,994 shares of company stock worth $11,331,187 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.38.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $35.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.73. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

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.