AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Trims Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 34.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 147,890 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 76,509 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $4,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 26.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,855 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 203.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 21,866 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 14,668 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 11.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 173,555 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $5,042,000 after purchasing an additional 18,396 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 63.0% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,064 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 22,047 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 22.3% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 18,988 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of HAL opened at $26.16 on Friday. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $25.16 and a twelve month high of $41.56. The company has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.15.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

About Halliburton

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.