Candriam S.C.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,780 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,726 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in Halliburton by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 23,340 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $61,375,000 after purchasing an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $621,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its holdings in Halliburton by 180.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 28,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 23.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $487,522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150,986 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Griffin Securities cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Stock Up 2.3 %

Halliburton stock opened at $25.00 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $23.42 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Company 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.