Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 684,413 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 187.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,048,793 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 684,413 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.12% of Halliburton worth $35,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 2.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 14,027 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in Halliburton by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 18,325 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 28.8% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.1% during the second quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.7 %

HAL opened at $28.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company has a market capitalization of $25.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.26 and a 200-day moving average of $34.75. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.52 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company had revenue of $5.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Johnson Rice raised shares of Halliburton to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.56.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.