Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 146.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 842,355 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.10% of Halliburton worth $28,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HAL. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 274.9% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 286.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth about $46,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $29.47 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.52 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.83.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 29.97%. The firm had revenue of $5.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Halliburton to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.17.

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.