Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes $41.48 Million Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,525,703 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,484,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned 0.17% of Halliburton at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $19.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $38.35.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HAL. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Halliburton to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Halliburton from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. This represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.