Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,748,763 shares during the period. Halliburton accounts for 1.1% of Pacer Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 2.11% of Halliburton worth $503,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $351,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 17,484 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,768 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 10,736 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL stock opened at $27.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $25.51 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.91.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 24.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.42.

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.