Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 10,122 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lowered its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,760 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 10,122 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $7,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Halliburton by 244.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $138,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,203,224 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Halliburton by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $487,522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150,986 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Halliburton by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $353,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,043 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,132,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $32,683,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170 over the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on HAL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL opened at $24.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.37 and a 200 day moving average of $28.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $23.42 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Halliburton Profile

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.