Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 16,762 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 59.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,223 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 16,762 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 121,551,234 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,394,077,000 after acquiring an additional 479,877 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,538,783 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $850,927,000 after purchasing an additional 782,093 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $400,070,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,202,160 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $372,687,000 after buying an additional 265,680 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Halliburton by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,878,811 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $284,822,000 after buying an additional 1,568,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,828,508.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,481,883.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $1,437,701.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 130,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,828,508.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,704 in the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.9 %

HAL opened at $33.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.36. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The company has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.06.

About Halliburton

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.