Royal Bank of Canada Sells 228,864 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has cut its stake in Halliburton Company by 8.1%, reducing its holdings to approximately 2.58 million shares worth around $65.5 million.
• Investment analysts have recently downgraded their price targets for Halliburton, with Royal Bank of Canada setting their target at $24 and the average target price now at $32.05.
• Halliburton also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.0%, with the next payment slated for September 24th.

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,582,526 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 228,864 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.30% of Halliburton worth $65,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HAL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,870 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in Halliburton by 0.8% in the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 72,381 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,815,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% in the first quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 38,733 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,469 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,181 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE:HAL traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.59. 13,916,948 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,735,170. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.82 and a 200 day moving average of $22.04. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $18.72 and a 1-year high of $32.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.55. Halliburton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 8.37%.The company had revenue of $5.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Halliburton's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HAL. Melius assumed coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.05.

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.