Royal Bank of Canada Has $76.44 Million Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,811,390 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after acquiring an additional 801,574 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.32% of Halliburton worth $76,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in Halliburton by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Halliburton by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,036 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 42,683 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE:HAL traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.91. 8,117,220 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,612,657. The company has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $21.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.62.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton's payout ratio is 28.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Eight 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,576 shares of company stock worth $1,631,457. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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.