Aventail Capital Group LP Makes New Investment in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new stake of 2,199,061 Halliburton shares valued at approximately $54.1 million, making HAL its eighth-largest holding and about 0.26% of the company.
• Halliburton beat quarterly expectations with $0.69 EPS (vs. $0.55 est.) and $5.66B revenue, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 (annualized $0.68, ~2.0% yield).
• Insiders sold 331,994 shares worth about $11.33 million in the last quarter, while institutional investors hold roughly 85.23% of the stock.

Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,199,061 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $54,097,000. Halliburton comprises 2.5% of Aventail Capital Group LP's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Aventail Capital Group LP owned approximately 0.26% of Halliburton as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HAL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Halliburton by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $145,860,000 after purchasing an additional 96,394 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 98.8% during the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 134,365 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $3,305,000 after buying an additional 66,765 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $1,775,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 12.8% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $40,480,000 after buying an additional 186,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $2,091,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $132,187.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at $2,805,657.47. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,538,550. This trade represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 331,994 shares of company stock valued at $11,331,187 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $33.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50 day moving average is $33.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.46. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $37.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.38.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HAL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.