AlphaQuest LLC Sells 22,748 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,639 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 22,748 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 244.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $138,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,203,224 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $487,522,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150,986 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in Halliburton by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $353,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378,043 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,132,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,683,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HAL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL opened at $25.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.49.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.03%.

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.