Stifel Financial Corp Buys 4,707 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,334 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,707 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $6,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at $217,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,112 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 19,454 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,629 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,021 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 15,507 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.7 %

HAL stock opened at $28.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.90. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.26 and a twelve month high of $41.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.35.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. UBS Group cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $46.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.58.

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.