Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $1.92 Million in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,984 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,915,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth $34,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on HAL. StockNews.com cut Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.1 %

Halliburton stock traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.67. 7,875,739 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,424,431. The company's fifty day moving average price is $37.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.44. The company has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Halliburton's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Halliburton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton 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.