Pinebridge Investments L.P. Reduces Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 110,674 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 62,933 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Halliburton by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,036 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 42,683 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,525. This trade represents a 28.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was 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 in the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.68.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.91. 20,363,973 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,051,977. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.59. 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 has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $38.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 28.45%.

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.