Nicholas Investment Partners LP Buys Shares of 125,217 Halliburton Company $HAL

Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 125,217 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,251,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,815,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth $160,564,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter valued at $18,786,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,007,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $34.63 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.54. The company has a market capitalization of $28.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.73. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $21.40 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.60%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

About Halliburton

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.