South Dakota Investment Council Sells 138,068 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 20.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 548,909 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 138,068 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.07% of Halliburton worth $21,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% in the 4th 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 bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $31.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $20.39 and a twelve month high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 35.60%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total transaction of $8,189,830.21. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 243,475 shares of company stock worth $9,931,490 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Zephirin Group upped their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

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.