Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 6,744 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 332,515 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,744 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $12,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.2 %

HAL stock opened at $39.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.41. The company has a market cap of $34.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.84 and a twelve month high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on HAL. UBS Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.53.

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.