Cullen Investment Group LTD. Acquires New Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 59,202 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 259.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 166,407 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after buying an additional 120,122 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Halliburton by 70.5% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 128,001 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,847,000 after acquiring an additional 52,933 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter valued at $696,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 81.5% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,347 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,384 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE HAL traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.89. 1,019,246 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,116,900. 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 quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $35.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.44.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the sale, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.53.

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.