AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Halliburton Company by 217.4% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 3,178,746 shares to reach a total of 4,641,111 shares valued at approximately $116.77 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their positions in Halliburton, with total institutional ownership now at 85.23%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Halliburton, with a consensus target price of $32.05, and the stock currently holds a "Moderate Buy" rating from investment analysts.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 217.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,641,111 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,178,746 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.54% of Halliburton worth $116,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Halliburton by 13,675.2% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 17,219 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 17,094 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Halliburton by 42.4% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 308,099 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $7,816,000 after acquiring an additional 91,791 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Halliburton by 33.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 159,533 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $4,047,000 after acquiring an additional 40,109 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Halliburton by 22.9% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 128,351 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $3,256,000 after acquiring an additional 23,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Halliburton by 2.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,780,057 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $70,530,000 after acquiring an additional 67,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.1%

Halliburton stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.75. The company had a trading volume of 10,298,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,476,374. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.00. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $32.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $21.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.05.

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.