Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon increased its Halliburton stake by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 6.53 million shares worth about $184.7 million.
• Halliburton’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.50 consensus and revenue of $5.40 billion, slightly above estimates.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on the stock: Halliburton has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $43.27, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,533,974 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 604,689 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.78% of Halliburton worth $184,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Innovations LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $8,987,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 257,883 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 111.4% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 34,503 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 18,184 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HAL shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.27.

Halliburton Stock Down 5.1%

Halliburton stock opened at $39.12 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $39.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $20.09 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The stock has a market cap of $32.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.69.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's payout ratio is 37.36%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 146,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,036,019.94. The trade was a 57.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $363,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,064,992. This represents a 10.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 416,991 shares of company stock worth $16,846,948 over the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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