Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,780,057 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after buying an additional 67,704 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.32% of Halliburton worth $70,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 278,934 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $7,584,000 after acquiring an additional 42,876 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 13,675.2% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 17,219 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 17,094 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 159,533 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 40,109 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 52,051 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 12,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $7,236,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.6%

Halliburton stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.04. 7,156,239 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,440,676. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.98. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.68. The company has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.13.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 24.01%. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 28.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.