American Century Companies Inc. Sells 237,728 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in Halliburton by 12.3%, selling 237,728 shares and owning 1,700,364 shares valued at approximately $43 million.
• Various institutional investors have increased their stakes in Halliburton, with Charles Schwab raising its stake by 450.9% in the 1st quarter, now owning nearly 30 million shares.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets for Halliburton downwards, with a consensus price target now at $32.05 and most analysts rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy."

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,700,364 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 237,728 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.20% of Halliburton worth $43,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 450.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,941,771 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $759,623,000 after purchasing an additional 24,506,472 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 16,093,680 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $437,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171,722 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 7.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,813,905 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $274,349,000 after purchasing an additional 731,105 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,184,850 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $249,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,113,044 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $155,088,000 after purchasing an additional 193,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 4.6%

Halliburton stock traded up $0.9750 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.2550. 12,617,447 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,239,343. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.12. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $18.72 and a 1-year high of $32.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.36.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.55. The firm had revenue of $5.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $41.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Halliburton from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Melius assumed coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Halliburton from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Halliburton from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.05.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.