Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 25,286 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,175,030 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 25,286 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.24% of Halliburton worth $78,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter valued at $34,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 443.8% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $38.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.41. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.84 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

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

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.53.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by 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.