Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 278,118 Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 1,662.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 294,849 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 278,118 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Halliburton were worth $7,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Halliburton by 33.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Halliburton by 830.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,047 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.07. 12,290,793 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,478,133. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $20.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.67. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $37.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Halliburton from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.