ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 194,993 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 12,647 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at $299,986,000. Amundi lifted its position in Halliburton by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $353,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,043 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 16,093,680 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $437,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171,722 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $503,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748,763 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,484,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.0%

HAL stock opened at $21.25 on Monday. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $18.72 and a 12-month high of $38.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.20 and its 200 day moving average is $25.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,525. This trade represents a 28.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,576 shares of company stock worth $1,631,457. Corporate insiders own 0.56% 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.