Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Buys 1,010 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Halliburton stock traded up $0.67 on Thursday, reaching $39.50. 4,297,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,451,458. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.84 and a 200 day moving average of $37.55. The company has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.99.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HAL shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.63.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton 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.