Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 29,529 Halliburton Company $HAL

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 29,529 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. L2 Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $6,443,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $529,000. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,802,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth approximately $4,608,000. Finally, Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter valued at approximately $829,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $1,844,751.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,166,235.70. This trade represents a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HAL. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target 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. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $33.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.73. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $21.40 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.53.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.60%.

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.