Ashburton Jersey Ltd Lowers Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 61.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,779 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 155,567 shares during the period. Halliburton accounts for about 1.1% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $734,000. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 416.3% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 158,744 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,316,000 after buying an additional 128,000 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 557.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 222,487 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $6,049,000 after buying an additional 188,645 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,236,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 17,835 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $19.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.79. 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 fifty-two week low of $19.59 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.