Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) EVP Van Beckwith Sells 19,618 Shares

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) EVP Van Beckwith sold 19,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total value of $663,480.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 344,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,652,173.70. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Halliburton Trading Up 4.6%

NYSE HAL traded up $1.58 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.74. The stock had a trading volume of 10,541,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,073,724. The company has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $37.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HAL. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore lifted their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Halliburton by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after buying an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,363,599 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,147,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617,696 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,436,336,000 after purchasing an additional 861,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $878,806,000 after purchasing an additional 443,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Company 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.