Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,524,734 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 465,339 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.51% of Halliburton worth $152,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Sei Investments Co. increased 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 worth $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 51,679 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Halliburton by 17,317.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,631,188 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $460,462,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552,927 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 77.6% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,863 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 4,746 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Halliburton by 146.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 842,355 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,455,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter worth $249,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $29.47 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.84. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.52 and a 1 year high of $43.85. 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Halliburton 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.