Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 18,245 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,424 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after buying an additional 18,245 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,525. This represents a 28.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Halliburton from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.58.

Halliburton Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Halliburton stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $20.50. 9,104,330 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,968,324. 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 company has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.87.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60. Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 10.90%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.28 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 28.45%.

Halliburton Company 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.