UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 15,671 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,189 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,671 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in Halliburton by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 113,459 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,085,000 after buying an additional 11,405 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Halliburton by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,406,264 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,925,000 after buying an additional 121,625 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Halliburton by 92.4% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 788,939 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $21,451,000 after buying an additional 378,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $25.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, 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. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $25.99 and its 200 day moving average is $27.95.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,525. The trade was a 28.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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, the company presently 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.