K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Raises Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• K.J. Harrison & Partners increased its stake in Halliburton by 172.6% in Q4, acquiring an additional 69,644 shares to hold a total of 110,000 shares valued at about $3.11 million.
• Halliburton beat Q1 estimates with $0.55 EPS versus a $0.50 consensus and $5.40 billion in revenue vs. $5.37 billion expected, while several analysts raised price targets into the mid-$40s and the consensus target sits at $41.09.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently, offloading a total of 222,488 shares worth $8.79 million over the past 90 days, leaving insiders with roughly 0.57% ownership.

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 172.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,644 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Equitable Trust Co. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,766,967 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $52,302,000 after buying an additional 83,343 shares during the period. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $321,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 111,184 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $3,142,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 1,947.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 419,704 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $11,861,000 after buying an additional 399,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,732.07. This represents a 17.83% 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 sold a total of 222,488 shares of company stock worth $8,789,305 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $40.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business's 50 day moving average is $37.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.40. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $19.22 and a 52-week high of $42.46. The firm has a market cap of $33.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.73.

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. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HAL shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus lifted their target price on Halliburton from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.09.

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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