Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Takes $1.16 Million Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 34,039 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,353,000 after buying an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Halliburton by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 20,583 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Halliburton by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 309.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 52,092 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at $895,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $34.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $21.40 and a 52-week high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Susquehanna lowered 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.10.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. This represents a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.