Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $4.38 Million Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 161,102 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $4,380,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,036 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 42,683 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,161,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,525. The trade was a 28.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,576 shares of company stock worth $1,631,457 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of HAL traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.25. The company had a trading volume of 13,147,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,512,967. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.90. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $18.72 and a 52 week high of $38.35. The company has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60. Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 10.90%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. Benchmark cut their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.53.

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.