Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Boosts Stock Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 967,163 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 218,227 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.11% of Halliburton worth $34,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HAL. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 443.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HAL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $1,437,701.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,508.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 434,287 shares of company stock worth $15,415,304 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.11. The company had a trading volume of 4,022,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,221,488. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.01. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $28.43 and a twelve month high of $43.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.53%.

About Halliburton

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.