USA Financial Formulas Invests $800,000 in Halliburton Company $HAL

USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 20,508 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HAL. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the second quarter worth $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of HAL opened at $34.44 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.78 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. Argus cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zephirin Group lifted their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

About Halliburton

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.