Groupama Asset Managment Acquires 322,066 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Management boosted its Halliburton stake by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 322,066 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 1.94 million shares worth about $54.9 million.
• Halliburton reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.55 versus $0.50 expected and revenue of $5.40 billion versus $5.37 billion expected, though revenue was slightly below last year’s level.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.27.

Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,941,931 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after buying an additional 322,066 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment owned 0.23% of Halliburton worth $54,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Halliburton by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,436,336,000 after buying an additional 861,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $878,806,000 after buying an additional 443,064 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $841,339,000 after buying an additional 29,735,387 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 9.4% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 26,004,682 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $639,715,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $34.93 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $20.09 and a 12-month high of $43.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $39.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the vice president owned 72,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $6,338,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,013,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,521,080. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 391,932 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,453 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Halliburton from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.27.

Halliburton Company Profile

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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