Aventail Capital Group LP Sells 1,909,076 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP sharply reduced its Halliburton stake in the fourth quarter, selling 1,909,076 shares and cutting its holdings by 86.8% to 289,985 shares worth about $8.2 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly constructive on Halliburton, with 18 Buy ratings, five Holds, and one Sell, giving the stock a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $43.27.
• Halliburton recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.55 EPS versus the $0.50 estimate, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share payable June 24, for an annualized yield of 1.9%.

Aventail Capital Group LP lessened its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 86.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,985 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 1,909,076 shares during the period. Aventail Capital Group LP's holdings in Halliburton were worth $8,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HAL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Zephirin Group increased their price objective on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $363,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,064,992. This trade represents a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 391,932 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,453 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $36.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.33. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.09 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $30.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Halliburton's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is 37.36%.

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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