Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Raises Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,683 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in Halliburton by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $61,375,000 after acquiring an additional 80,567 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth about $621,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Halliburton by 180.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 28,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 23.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $487,522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150,986 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $25.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.21. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $23.42 and a twelve month high of $41.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

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.