Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $4.08 Million in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 150,198 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its position in Halliburton by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $61,375,000 after buying an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $621,000. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 157,085 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 56,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its stake in Halliburton by 180.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 28,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Trading Down 3.3 %

Halliburton stock opened at $24.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.63. Halliburton has a one year low of $23.79 and a one year high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HAL. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.42.

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.