Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,712,353 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 176,904 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.31% of Halliburton worth $73,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 4.4% in the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 154,210 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,480,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE HAL opened at $26.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $41.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.97.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 24.03%.

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.