Insider Selling: Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) CEO Sells 171,200 Shares of Stock

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $5,985,152.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,455.28. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.11. 5,097,944 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,114,672. The company has a market cap of $28.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.78. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $35.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.33.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HAL shares. Zephirin Group lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 82.1% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 48,900 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 22,045 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,595,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter worth about $1,775,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 82.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,482 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 19,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 539,079 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $11,132,000 after purchasing an additional 37,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% 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.