John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Buys 16,000 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 25.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,708 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 547.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 111.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research raised Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.76.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,455.28. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $4,443,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 452,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,562,425.98. The trade was a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 497,002 shares of company stock worth $15,889,138 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of HAL stock opened at $33.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $35.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.03. The company has a market capitalization of $28.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.77.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

Halliburton Company Profile

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.