Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys Shares of 25,887 Halliburton Company $HAL

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,887 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HAL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Halliburton by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth $337,486,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $169,304,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 12,413.2% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,163,259 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $162,325,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129,988 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $34.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.48. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $20.78 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HAL. Barclays lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zephirin Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Freedom Capital raised Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.