Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $6.55 Million in Halliburton Company $HAL

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd opened a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter, buying 167,893 shares valued at about $6.55 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their Halliburton stakes, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 85.23% of the company.
• Analysts remain generally positive on HAL, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $43.32, while Halliburton recently beat earnings expectations and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 167,893 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $6,546,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 20,583 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 309.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 52,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth $895,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of Halliburton 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HAL. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Griffin Securities raised Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore lifted their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.32.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $32.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $20.17 and a fifty-two week high of $43.59. The company has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 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 analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 37.36%.

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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