Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 67,704 Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 1,662.3% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 294,849 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $7,480,000 after purchasing an additional 278,118 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 18,164 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 51,104 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 107,137 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,718,000 after buying an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 83.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 105,844 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,685,000 after buying an additional 48,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $21.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,797,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,349,997. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $20.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.73. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $37.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Halliburton from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.53.

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.