Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Halliburton Company by 763.5%, now owning over 206,000 shares worth approximately $5.24 million.
• Halliburton reported a net margin of 8.37% and earnings per share of $0.55 for its most recent quarter, with revenue slightly down 5.5% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, representing a yield of 3.2%, with a dividend payout ratio of 31.78%.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 763.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 206,405 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 182,503 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 87.4% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Halliburton from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Halliburton from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Melius Research started coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.05.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL traded up $0.9750 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.2550. 12,617,447 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,239,343. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $32.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.12.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55. Halliburton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 8.37%.The firm had revenue of $5.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 31.78%.

Halliburton Company Profile

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.