Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 107.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,487 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 7,516 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 440.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,227 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 77.6% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,863 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 4,746 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Halliburton by 34.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 201,100 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 51,679 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Halliburton by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 889,398 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $30,044,000 after purchasing an additional 32,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 59.5% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 170,477 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $5,759,000 after buying an additional 63,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $27.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.03. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $25.51 and a 52-week high of $41.56. The firm has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.91.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced 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). Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 10.90%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Griffin Securities downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Company 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.