Woodline Partners LP Invests $1.43 Million in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 52,758 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,434,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 164.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,210 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 79,979 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 190,913 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $5,191,000 after purchasing an additional 38,172 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 91.5% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286 shares during the period. CX Institutional bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $153,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 10,736 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of HAL stock traded down $0.51 on Friday, hitting $19.58. 4,647,108 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,716,858. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $37.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Equities analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on HAL. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,177,525. This trade represents a 28.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,576 shares of company stock valued at $1,631,457 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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.