Private Advisor Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 35.0%, holding 51,749 shares valued at approximately $1.31 million as of the latest reporting period.
• A significant number of institutional investors have modified their investments in Halliburton, resulting in over 85% of the stock being owned by these entities.
• Several brokerages have recently lowered their price targets for Halliburton, with the consensus target price now at $31.61, and the company currently holds a Moderate Buy rating.

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,749 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,409 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Halliburton by 87.4% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Halliburton by 830.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,047 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth $57,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.2%

HAL stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.47. The company had a trading volume of 15,727,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,609,854. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.22 and a 200 day moving average of $23.18. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $34.97.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 31.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HAL. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.61.

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.