National Pension Service Grows Holdings in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its Halliburton stake by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1,520,820 shares valued at about $43 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their positions, and overall 85.23% of Halliburton’s stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Halliburton reported quarterly EPS of $0.55, topping expectations, and the company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share to be paid June 24.

National Pension Service increased its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,520,820 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,685 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of Halliburton worth $42,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,054,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Halliburton by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $145,860,000 after buying an additional 96,394 shares in the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Halliburton by 98.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 134,365 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $3,305,000 after buying an additional 66,765 shares in the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,091,000. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,010,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $6,338,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at $40,521,080. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 420,837 shares of company stock worth $16,979,135. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE HAL opened at $38.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.70. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $19.44 and a one year high of $43.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.15.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

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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