National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 241,440 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,046 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $8,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $268,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,943 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,879 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,803 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 524,334 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $18,954,000 after purchasing an additional 21,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Group Foundation grew its stake in Halliburton by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 53,671 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,845. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $123,802.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,845. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 434,287 shares of company stock worth $15,415,304 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $37.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.07. The company has a market cap of $33.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.01. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HAL. Citigroup upped their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.59.

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.