Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases Shares of 1,525,703 Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,525,703 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $41,484,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned approximately 0.17% of Halliburton at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the firm'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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.71. The company had a trading volume of 6,219,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,123,503. The company's 50-day moving average price is $22.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.36. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $38.35. The firm has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Halliburton from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.84.

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.