MUFG Securities EMEA plc Grows Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 111.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,503 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,184 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HAL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 20,583 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 309.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 52,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth about $895,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL opened at $40.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.69. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $19.64 and a twelve month high of $43.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zephirin Group boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $6,338,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at $40,521,080. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. The trade was a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 420,837 shares of company stock worth $16,979,135 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton 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.