20,715 Shares in Halliburton Company $HAL Purchased by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 20,715 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of HAL stock opened at $35.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $20.78 and a 12 month high of $43.59. The stock has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

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.