Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 4,017 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,597 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 4,017 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Halliburton by 46.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,090,055 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,408,171,000 after purchasing an additional 19,237,784 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.8% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 54,101 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 121,928,734 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,806,431,000 after acquiring an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth about $823,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Halliburton by 0.3% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 507,206 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $19,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $123,802.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,845. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,287 shares of company stock valued at $2,298,204. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.5 %

HAL stock traded down $0.53 on Monday, reaching $33.87. 1,394,278 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,501,061. Halliburton has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $29.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.07.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The business had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.