Acadian Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 3,757.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,067 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,106 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 274.9% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 286.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.47.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $27.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.52 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.05.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The firm had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 273,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.