Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 161,102 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $4,380,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,525. The trade was a 28.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,576 shares of company stock worth $1,631,457. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.60. 34,031,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,864,116. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $18.72 and a 52 week high of $37.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.28.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 10.90%. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.53.

Halliburton Profile

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.