Private Advisory Group LLC Takes $10.44 Million Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 307,591 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,443,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HAL. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $34.44 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.78 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.42 and its 200 day moving average is $36.46. The company has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.60%.

About Halliburton

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.