Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 591,271 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Nordea Investment Management AB trimmed its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 54.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 493,904 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 591,271 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.06% of Halliburton worth $13,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 154,210 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,480,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Halliburton by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,979 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of HAL stock opened at $26.97 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.91. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $25.51 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.41.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Dbs Bank assumed coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.95.

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.