Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 17,484 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 7,768 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 10,736 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $153,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 2,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38,172 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $25.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $28.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.91. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $25.51 and a 1-year high of $41.56.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 10.90%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HAL. Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.42.

Halliburton Company 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.