Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,368 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 3,059 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 4.4% in the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Halliburton by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 154,210 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,480,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Halliburton by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Finally, Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HAL. Griffin Securities cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark lowered their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of HAL stock opened at $25.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.97. Halliburton has a one year low of $23.42 and a one year high of $41.56.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 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.