Vestcor Inc Sells 4,754 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Vestcor Inc cut its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,337 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 4,754 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 84.7% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 284,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 130,651 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $995,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 680,693 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $18,508,000 after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,547,656 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $42,081,000 after acquiring an additional 5,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $3,689,712.78. Following the sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 in the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of HAL opened at $25.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark lowered their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Griffin Securities downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

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.