Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys Shares of 186,100 Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden, the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund, opened a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter, buying 186,100 shares worth about $7.26 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Halliburton remains constructive, with multiple analysts raising price targets; the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $43.32.
• Halliburton reported quarterly earnings of $0.55 per share, beating estimates, and recently paid a $0.17 quarterly dividend, equal to a 2.1% annualized yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 186,100 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $7,256,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in Halliburton by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $43.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised Halliburton from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Capital One Financial raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.32.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $32.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.17 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,064,992. This trade 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 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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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