Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 39,507 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Anchor Capital Advisors reduced its Halliburton stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 39,507 shares and leaving it with 787,389 shares valued at about $22.25 million.
• Halliburton reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.55 versus $0.50 expected and revenue of $5.40 billion, slightly above estimates.
• The company also raised its shareholder payout outlook by ঘোষণাing a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $43.05.

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 787,389 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 39,507 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Halliburton worth $22,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 81.8% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,239,349,000 after purchasing an additional 40,969,139 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $841,339,000 after acquiring an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at $418,738,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at $169,304,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at $147,315,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 420,837 shares of company stock worth $16,979,135. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of HAL opened at $40.14 on Wednesday. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $19.64 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $33.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $39.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.23. 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 (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Halliburton's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HAL shares. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.05.

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.

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