M&G PLC Increases Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

M&G PLC raised its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 34.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 498,886 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 126,747 shares during the period. M&G PLC owned about 0.06% of Halliburton worth $12,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HAL. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 547.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 111.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Capital One Financial raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,538,550. This represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $5,985,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,101,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,499,455.28. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 337,002 shares of company stock valued at $11,445,938. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $33.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.77. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $35.55.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.