Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748,763 shares during the period. Halliburton comprises about 1.1% of Pacer Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $503,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 244.5% in the third 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. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,132,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Halliburton by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,520,383 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $160,367,000 after buying an additional 995,649 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 127.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,557,130 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $52,600,000 after buying an additional 871,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 15.1% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 4,279,478 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $144,516,000 after acquiring an additional 560,325 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of HAL opened at $27.83 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.91. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $25.51 and a 12-month high of $41.56.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Halliburton 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.