MQS Management LLC Acquires 17,175 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 191.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,123 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,175 shares during the period. Halliburton comprises approximately 0.5% of MQS Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 274.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 286.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,066,119. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on HAL. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of 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 report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.17.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $29.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.92. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.52 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

About Halliburton

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.