Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) CFO Eric Carre Sells 24,778 Shares of Stock

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:HAL traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.78. 4,364,235 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,301,494. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $20.09 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.45. The firm has a market cap of $29.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.70.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its holdings in Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HAL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.27.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.