Sciencast Management LP Grows Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Sciencast Management LP boosted its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 513.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,850 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 93,619 shares during the quarter. Halliburton makes up approximately 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 101.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Halliburton by 28.8% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark cut their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $24.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $23.42 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.08.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Halliburton 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.