Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Takes $3.87 Million Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management disclosed a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter, buying 136,881 shares valued at about $3.87 million.
• Halliburton recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.55 versus estimates of $0.50 and revenue of $5.40 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus view sitting at “Moderate Buy” with a target of $43.27.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 136,881 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $3,868,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the second quarter worth $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter worth $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 547.3% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $39.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.69. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $39.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $20.09 and a 1 year high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton's payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,230. The trade was a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 416,991 shares of company stock worth $16,846,948 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAL. Evercore lifted their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.27.

Halliburton 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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