Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Makes New $268,000 Investment in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,944 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 2.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 14,027 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 18,325 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Halliburton by 2.9% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.17.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $29.47 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.48 and its 200 day moving average is $34.83. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.52 and a one year high of $43.85. The firm has a market cap 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 current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

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.