Readystate Asset Management LP Purchases New Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 187,669 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,317,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,436,336,000 after purchasing an additional 861,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $878,806,000 after purchasing an additional 443,064 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,806,168 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $446,682,000 after buying an additional 1,943,845 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. The trade was a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 2.7%

HAL opened at $31.27 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.71. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.39 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HAL. Zephirin Group boosted their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Griffin Securities upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.