Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 9,612 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Halliburton by 271.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 768,057 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $27,781,000 after purchasing an additional 561,020 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $344,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Halliburton by 13.1% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,037,646 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $82,525,000 after purchasing an additional 235,906 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Halliburton by 1.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,342,520 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $135,372,000 after purchasing an additional 44,901 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $1,869,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.42. The company has a market cap of $34.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on HAL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.