69,775 Shares in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 69,775 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 121,928,734 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,806,431,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Halliburton by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,274,105 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,952,805,000 after buying an additional 2,618,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,090,055 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,408,171,000 after acquiring an additional 19,237,784 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,538,783 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $850,927,000 after acquiring an additional 782,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $400,070,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $29.30 on Wednesday. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.52 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.89.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The firm had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAL. Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Halliburton to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Halliburton from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total value of $367,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 273,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.