Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 3,917 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 29.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,387 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 3,917 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 271.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 768,057 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $27,781,000 after acquiring an additional 561,020 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 206,692 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $7,472,000 after buying an additional 84,771 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 490,230 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after buying an additional 31,534 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $344,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,037,646 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $82,525,000 after buying an additional 235,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:HAL opened at $38.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.84 and a twelve month 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’s 50 day moving average is $37.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.42.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.