Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Purchases 23,262 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,485 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 23,262 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.4% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 98,720 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 3,222 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,596 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 9,909 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Halliburton by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,410 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Halliburton from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Halliburton in a report on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Halliburton from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.71.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $31.91 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.96 and its 200 day moving average is $24.60. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $18.72 and a 1-year high of $33.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $26.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $246,938.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 333,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 268,854 shares of company stock valued at $7,915,138. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.