South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stock Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 416,175 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 12,300 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $15,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Sourcerock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,677,194 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $67,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,406 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,539,062 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $91,787,000 after purchasing an additional 859,440 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 1,507.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 852,357 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $34,520,000 after purchasing an additional 799,337 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Halliburton by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,339,859 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $94,766,000 after buying an additional 575,933 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Halliburton by 271.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 768,057 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $27,781,000 after buying an additional 561,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:HAL traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,377,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,147,902. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.84 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.66 and a 200-day moving average of $37.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James reduced their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.