Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 44.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,885 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 18,290 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20,583 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 309.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 52,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at $895,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HAL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Griffin Securities raised shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Van H. 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 in the company, valued at $11,652,173.70. This represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $6,338,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,013,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,521,080. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 222,488 shares of company stock worth $8,789,305. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.5%

Halliburton stock opened at $41.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $19.38 and a fifty-two week high of $42.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.06.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

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.