Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $874,000 in Halliburton Company $HAL

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 25,887 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 6,507 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 20,583 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 309.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 52,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at $895,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $34.77 on Wednesday. Halliburton Company has a 52-week low of $20.78 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The stock has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.48. 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 (NYSE:HAL) last posted 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 business had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zephirin Group boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.