Tredje AP fonden Takes $4.16 Million Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden initiated a new position in Halliburton, buying 147,058 shares worth about $4.16 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional interest in Halliburton remains high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 85.23% of the company; several large firms also significantly boosted their stakes recently.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive: Halliburton has an average Moderate Buy rating, with 18 Buy ratings and an average price target of $42.45.

Tredje AP fonden bought a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 147,058 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $4,156,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 81.8% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,239,349,000 after purchasing an additional 40,969,139 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at $418,738,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth $147,315,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 85.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $175,490,000 after buying an additional 3,969,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upgraded shares of Halliburton from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $363,510.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 72,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,064,992. This represents a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 420,837 shares of company stock valued at $16,979,135. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL stock opened at $42.97 on Wednesday. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $19.38 and a 12 month high of $43.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.38.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company's activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.

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